


How We Came to Be

by JustAnotherWriter17



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-02-03 19:15:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 52
Words: 129,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1754975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherWriter17/pseuds/JustAnotherWriter17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when you have just broken up with your long time girlfriend, but then realize you have fallen for a straight girl?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Erin hadn’t done much research about the players she would soon call her teammates in Chicago, neither did Carm really, but they figured they would at least be going in together not knowing much about some players and could learn.

One person they did know about was Ella Masar. Everyone that had any sort of clue about MagicJack knew Ella’s name.

She was the one that walked.

Erin had to respect for the girl, she stuck to what she thought was right, but that also let the keeper and her fellow Canadian to find the blog where Ella made her opinion known about the gay community.

Sure she wasn’t really disrespectful or anything. She acknowledged that there were gay athletes, but she did say she didn’t agree with their choice to live that life.

Erin didn’t choose to feel the way she does about women, and she planned on asking Ella when she chose to be straight when they met, well maybe not right when they met, that might be super awkward. Once she felt like they were comfortable enough around each other she would ask.

 

As it turned out, living with the Americans on the other side of the apartment caused them all to bond really well within the first few weeks of the season. They would have movie nights, cook meals together, and play dumb middle school games to get to know each other better.

It was quickly decided that Carm and Ella were both horrible cooks, so they always ended up on dish duty together, and that is where the idea for the Carm and Ella show came about.

Ella came up with the idea to do something for the fans to get to know them all a little more, and Carm figured YouTube was the best place for that to happen.

They both came into the living room one night after doing the dishes with identical mischievous smiles.

“We,” Ella said gesturing to herself and Carm, “are a couple of geniuses.”

Erin and Lori shared a look before the keeper spoke up. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Shut up and just listen. We all want spread the word about the NWSL right? Well, we have a bit of a social media platform, so Carm came up with the idea to do a web show so the fans can get to know us as more that just soccer players.”

“And what would you do on this web show?” Erin asked.

Ella shrugged, “Just like have a player or two on each time and do like funny interviews and stuff like that.”

“Yea,” Carm followed up, “Like if we had you on, I would make you sing something too.”

Ella whipped her head up, “You sing?”

Erin slightly blushed. Sure, it was a well known fact within the Canadian team that she could sing, and there were a couple of old YouTube videos, but she hadn’t really gotten comfortable enough to share that with her Chicago teammates yet. “Yea, a little bit,” the keeper said as she shot Carm an annoyed look.

“If I go grab my guitar will you sing something?”

“You, you clumsy human can play the guitar?”

“Rude. But yes and piano a little bit.”

“Don’t forget about the beat boxing!” Carm chimed in.

“You’re kidding!? Beat boxing?”

Ella turned to look at Carm. “How did you know that?”

Carm just shrugged. “You do it when we do dishes all the time. You’re actually really good.”

“Well thanks then. So,” Ella said turning back towards Erin, “will you sing something?”

“What do you want to hear?” Erin asked with a roll of her eyes. She knew Ella wouldn’t let it go until she sang something.

“Ooh sing something Adele!” Carm said

Erin took a breath before going off on the chorus of Someone Like You.

Ella just stood there, slightly in awe, of how talented Erin was.

The keeper had been singing with her eyes pretty much closed, but she looked at Ella briefly and immediately started blushing under the intensity that the forward was watching her. She continued to look at Ella as she finished up.

“That was amazing. You are totally singing when you come on the show.”

“Thanks.” Erin said awkwardly. “I’m kinda beat, I’m heading to bed. Night guys.”

As a chorus of ‘good nights’ followed her out the door, she raked her hands over her face. Why was she blushing around Ella? She never blushed around anyone before.

With a shake of her head she got changed and got in bed, hoping to just erase the reason she was blushing from her mind, because deep down, past the denial, she felt like she knew what was happening, and she couldn’t go through another heart break; she wasn’t even over the one she was going through now.

 

About an hour after she had left the living room, Carm came and knocked on her door. “You still up bud?”

Erin just groaned in response, knowing her friend would recognize that meant she could come in.

“What the hell was that out there?”

Erin decided to play dumb. “What do you mean?”

Carm just looked right through her lie. “I know what that song means to you. I know you aren’t over Mel completely; she broke your heart I know, but Ella? Ella is straight Erin you can’t go near that. We both read that interview, she isn’t just some girl you can try and flip. This is our teammate, and she is quickly becoming one of my best friends. What the hell is going on?!”

Erin rolled over. “I have no clue Carm. No fucking idea. She was just staring at me while I was singing and… and I don’t know. Something just happened and I just thought that… no, never mind I don’t even know what I thought. I didn’t mean to blush.” Erin had started to get a little teary eyed. “Mel broke me, you know that. You witnessed it for god’s sake. But… I don’t know. I’ve felt like shit every day since she left, but tonight, when I looked at Ella, I forgot about all of that for a second and it scares the shit out of me. I know I can’t have her, but dammit, I don’t know what this means.”

Carm took the space next to Erin and put an arm around her. “Do you think you are getting feelings for her?”

“I don’t know! I don’t even remember what new feelings feel like! I was with Mel for so long.”

Erin broke down again at the fact that she might have feelings for a straight girl, so Carm, being the dutiful best friend, just held her as she cried.

 

Ella slowly walked away from the door after she heard them stop talking and headed back to her room. Erin had left in a rush so she wanted to make sure she was okay, she didn’t mean to hear all of that.

The forward barely got any sleep, how the hell was she supposed to act if Erin had feelings for her; a girl might have feelings for her. How was she going to act?

Ella decided around 4am that she would just talk to Carm about it tomorrow. Maybe she would be able to understand more about Erin if she went through Carm first.

Fuck she was confused.      


	2. Chapter 2

Thankfully they had a day off the next day so Ella could sleep in; it was also the day Carm and Ella would film the first episode of the Carm and Ella show. The forward figured that after they were done filming she would bring up the conversation she heard last night, or at least try to.

When they got to the office, there was Alyse, and intern, and a camera set up in the open space that Ella had painted in the off season. Basically Alyse told them that they could film whatever they wanted, however they wanted, and the intern, who introduced herself as Kimmy, would cut together the video then send it to one of them for approval before posting it.

 

“Who is your favorite player on the Red Stars?”

“Erin Mcleod.”

“Fuck off…oh I can’t say that. Let’s try again. Whooo is your actual favorite player on the Red Stars?”

“Maribel Dominguez.” Carm managed to get out before bursting into more laughter.

“Third time. Who is your favorite player on the Red Stars that wears cut off and that is supporting you now wearing a cut off?”

“Boxxy looks good in a cut off.”

“Can we never post this?” Ella managed to get out in between fits of laughter.

Kimmy shut off the camera and pulled herself together. “You two are fantastic together, this is going to be a hit for sure. I can start editing it now and then send it to you in a couple of hours so we can put it up tomorrow morning.”

Ella and Carm were still trying to regain their composure. “That sounds great.” Carm managed to get out. “You can just email it to Ella when you are done.”

“Alright. I’ll get started then, see you guys later.”

“Bye.”

Carm had gotten herself together a bit, but Ella was still laughing hysterically.

“This is either going to be great, or a total flop, there will be no in between.”

Ella, who was still laughing sat down on the couch on the other side of the room and leaned on Carm. “I don’t care, that was awesome.”

“Whatever you say Thunder foot.”

When Ella had finally stopped laughing she attempted to bring up last night. “So, uh, was Erin okay last night? She kinda rushed off after she sang. I thought I heard you go in.”

“Oh, um, you heard me talking to her?”

Ella was going to say yes, but the worried tone in Carm’s voice made her question it. “Not really, just bits and pieces, a little bit about not being over Mel, and just some stuff that I couldn’t really understand.”

Carm let out a relieved breath. “Okay, um yea, just that song kinda brings her back to Mel, and she isn’t over that at all. She is still kind of fragile right now. I’m going to tell you some stuff, just so you can understand a little, but you cannot tell her you know okay?”

Ella nodded dutifully and turned to give her full attention to Carm.

“Okay, basically, those two have been through, and gotten though, just about everything a couple can get thrown at them. This fall would have been four years for them. Erin was the perfect girlfriend to Mel, she went at the pace Mel was comfortable with, supported her decision to go back to school, and even let Mel dictate how open they were, and you know Erin, she loves to be out and open about things. She stayed in the closet for Mel. Then, Mel just decided she couldn’t do distance and ended it one night over Skype. Erin had been in St. Louis the weekend before and she said it was all good, so she didn’t see it coming at all when Mel broke it off. She didn’t come out of her room for 2 days, like at all; not even for food. She was so broken Ella, she still sort of is.”

Ella just sat there speechless. She had no idea about all of that. Granted she figured that Melissa was the one that ended it, and she had her suspicions about why there was never anything said about the couple, but she had no idea it had broken the keeper so bad. “I, I had no idea.”

“She doesn’t like to let it show, but last night, for a moment I saw that sadness leave her. It was when she was hanging out with you.”

“Me?”

Carm just nodded. “Yea, I think you remind her what happiness feels like, real genuine happiness.”

“I… I do?”

Carm smiled and slung around her shoulder. “I think so.”

“Hmm.” Ella said as she settled into Carm’s side. After a moment of silence Ella spoke up again. “Can I ask you something kind of personal?”

“Sure.”

“You’re gay right?”

“Well no beating around the bush eh?”

“I’m sorry, that was so out of line and…” Ella started to pull away, but Carm pulled her back into her side.

“Ella don’t worry it’s fine. Yea, I’m gay. I thought it was pretty obvious.” Carm laughed trying to ease the tension that she could feel radiate off of Ella.

“Well, I mean, it is, but…I didn’t want to assume, or like offend you or anything.”

“Ella, it’s fine, just calm down. Take a couple breaths.”

Ella complied and then relaxed against Carm. “How did you know?”

Carm gave Ella’s shoulder a squeeze. “I will answer anything you want, we can sit here and talk for hours if you want, but I want to ask you something first, if that’s okay?”

“Umm, okay. What is it?”

“Erin and I did a little research about you and well…”

“You read the article?”

“Yea. I just, before we have this conversation about me, I want to know that you will be okay to talk to about this. I’ve dealt with a lot of judgmental people.”

Ell nodded and looked down almost in shame; Carm could immediately tell that she regretted the article. “I understand. I was ignorant when I said what I did. I didn’t know what I was talking about and I’ve regretted it since I started thinking about, um, things.”

Carm looked over shocked. “Hold up, what things have you been thinking about?”

Ella blushed, “Um just, that, um, labels are dumb.”

Carm continued to just look at Ella. She could see the forward was starting to get really self-conscious about what was being implied, so she went back to the original question. “I knew for sure when I was 20, but looking back I don’t know how I didn’t realize it when I was 12.”

“What do you mean?” Ella asked, thankful that Carm changed the subject back.

“Well, I mean I always felt a little different than the other girls I hung out with. Once we hit middle school all they could focus on were boys, I never had that. I mean sure, I can appreciate a good looking guy, but I was never physically attracted to them ya know?” She waited for the forward to nod her head before continuing. “Then, at Penn State, I met Erin and she was out and proud. It just hit me one day when I saw her walking with her girlfriend at the time, I wanted that.”

“Her girlfriend?” Ella asked confused.

Carm laughed out loud. “No, not her girlfriend, I wanted _a_ girlfriend. The second Erin came back to our room I just started babbling away and she just laughed and said she was waiting for me to realize it.”

“Wow. And like your family and friends were okay with that?”

Carm shrugged. “For the most part yea. I had a couple of friends who just stopped talking to me, but that was expected, and looking back now, the people that matter to me are still here; the people I lost, I wouldn’t want to be around anyway. The people that love me, all of me, stuck around and didn’t treat me any different.”

“So you obviously had a pretty decent coming out, and obviously Erin did since you said she was out and… that look on your face tells me I’m wrong about Erin’s.”

Carm stood up and held out her hand for Ella. “It isn’t my place to talk about that with you. One day, Erin might tell you about it though. Now let’s get back and enjoy the rest of our day off.”

Ella stood up and hugged Carm. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“Any time Thunder. I mean it.” Carm said as she returned the hug. “If you ever have any questions or just want to talk about it, or anything, you can come to me.”

“Thanks. I really just want to understand. I was ignorant, I still kind of am, and I don’t want to say anything again that I’m going to regret.”

“I think you will be just fine Ella. Now let’s go. Erin is waiting for us with the promise of snacks and a movie when we get back.

Ella broke into a smile. “Does she have those little chocolate things that I always steal from you?” Ella asked excitedly.

Carm winked and opened the door of the office. “She got one better. I hope you are in the mood for that coffee ice cream.”

“YES! Tell her we are on the way home and that she is the best.”

“Alright.”

_We are on the way back, Ella says you are the best for getting her ice cream, but you need to tread carefully tonight. I’ll explain later, but I don’t think Ella is as straight as we thought. She is confused I think, so please don’t try and confuse her more. Tonight I’ll explain what happened.’_

Erin read the text with wide eyes, of course she heard Carm, she wasn’t going to try and confuse Ella if she was already feeling confused, but she couldn’t help but stare at ‘ _I don’t think Ella is as straight as we thought.’_ She needed answers soon.

The keeper was still trying to figure out what her own feelings were for the forward, and if Ella was confused about herself she didn’t want to push it any further.

She decided before they got home that, until she figured herself out, she would distance herself from Ella.

 

Little did she know the forward was thinking the exact opposite. Ella figured that if she spent more time with the keeper, she might be able to figure out what the hell was going on in her own mind.


	3. Chapter 3

When Carm and Ella got home, Erin was waiting for them on the couch with a snack spread and the title page of a movie on the TV. “Hey, how did the show go?” she asked as she pulled Carm down next to her; she didn’t want to have Ella be her usual snuggly self next to her, she still didn’t know what was going on in her own head.

Ella was slightly confused at the fact that Erin had pulled Carm down next to her; usually she cuddled with Erin on movie nights. If she wanted to figure out her feelings, she was going to have to try and get closer to Erin.

Carm could feel the tension radiating off of both of them. She rolled her eyes at how this was starting to play out. Erin wasn’t over Mel, she knew that, but she also knew that the few times she had seen the keeper be truly happy was when the forward was around. “Erin, can I talk to you for a second?”

Erin didn’t take her eyes off the movie; she knew what was coming, “Yea, what’s up.”

“In the kitchen maybe? I’ll bring back your ice cream Ella when we come back.”

Ella nodded a thanks as the defender got up and the keeper started to follow, “If I’m not back in 10 minutes come save me.” She whispered to the forward with a wink.

Once in the kitchen, Carm started to pace back and forth.

“Okay, what is going on?”

Carm took a deep breath before starting. “Well Ella and I had a nice long chat after the show.”

“About….?” Erin said confused about why they needed to have this conversation right now.

“Well, um, I’m just going to start at the beginning then. Um, she sort of heard us talking the other night, not about your feelings, or possible feelings for her, just the stuff about Mel. So, I’m sorry, but I told her about the break up a little bit. I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t think of how else to not tell her about what was going on in your head.”

Erin brought the defender in for a hug. “It’s okay Carm. I understand. I’m not mad at you for that okay?”

Carm nodded against her then pulled away. “That isn’t all though.”

Erin raised her eyebrow, “What else is there?”

“Well, I officially came out to Ella, she knew, but didn’t want to be the one to bring it up, and she was asking how I knew and stuff, so I told her that story. But, I brought up that article that she had written ya know and she said that she didn’t see things the same anymore that she was ignorant when she wrote about it and she didn’t want to seem ignorant ever again if it was brought up.”

“Well good for her then.”

“Yea, it’s great.”

“I can hear you hesitating, what else?”

“Well, I guess my face gave away that your coming out wasn’t very easy, I told her that would be something you had to tell her, but she knows at least that isn’t wasn’t very good.”

“Okay, that’s also fine. I’m okay with her knowing that, but you are still not telling me something, I know you Carm. What is it?”

Carm took a deep breath, knowing that this would probably mess with Erin’s head, but she couldn’t keep it from her. “Well, before we started talking about it, I had asked her about the article and stuff and she said, she regretted since she had started thinking about things. So I asked what kind of things and she replied with ‘labels are dumb.’ Now, I don’t know what that was supposed to mean, I could tell she was getting really self conscious, but I just thought maybe you should know.”

Erin nodded, letting all of the new information sink in. “Wow, okay. So she may not be as straight as we thought.”

“Erin, you still can’t pursue anything with her, you know that right?”

Erin ran her hands over her face, “Yea I know.”

“Good, because she doesn’t know what she wants yet. You have to let her figure that out for herself.”

“I got it Carm. It will be fine. I need to distance myself anyway.” Erin said as she walked back to the living room with Ella’s ice cream.

Instead of going back to the couch, Erin took a seat in the recliner. Both Ella and Carm looked at her confused, but she just ignored them and turned back to the movie.

When Erin was zoned out, probably not even paying attention to the movie, but rather thinking about what was said in the kitchen, Carm pulled out her phone to text Ella. _‘She is dealing with some stuff, just give her space and don’t take it personally. She will be fine in a couple of days.’_

Ella felt her phone buzz, and then looked at Carm confused when she saw it was from her. Carm just gave her a look that told her to read the text.

The forward read it with her brow furrowed but replied anyway. _‘Okay?’_

Carm just nodded and pulled Ella into her side.

 

Over then next few days Erin started to distance herself even more, and Carm and Ella continued to get closer and closer. The keeper knew that Ella had still been asking Carm questions about her sexuality, and more about trying to understand it, but she was still jealous that Carm was spending so much time with the forward when that was what she wanted to do.

Erin was sitting on the counter with her cup of coffee the next morning when Ella came stumbling into the kitchen. The forward was in a pair of tiny sleep shorts and a tank top, so when she came over and plucked the coffee cup out of Erin’s hand, the keeper couldn’t really react.

After almost a full minute Erin snapped out of it. “And you took my coffee because…?”

Ella shrugged, “By how awake you look I’m assuming this is what, your third cup? After two you get too restless and fidgety. I’m saving you from being a jittery mess all day. Also, why are you up this early? Usually I’m the first up.”

Erin just shrugged, it wasn’t like she was about to tell Ella that it was because she couldn’t get her out of her mind. “I don’t know, just couldn’t sleep.”

“Well that’s a lie.” Ella stated bluntly.

“What do you want me to say Ella?”

“The truth! You have been avoiding me the last few days and I want to know why. What did I do?” the forwards asked in a small voice.

The look on Ella’s face was almost enough to make the keeper spill everything, but she knew that wasn’t an option, so she hopped down and wrapped the forward in a hug. “You haven’t done anything, I’m just going through some stuff in my head and I needed some space.”

“From me?” Ella asked timidly.

“No,” Erin lied, “just from everyone in general really. I’m sorry I made you feel like I was avoiding you.”

“You haven’t been avoiding Carm though, just me.”

Erin sighed, she figured she could at least tell Ella a bit of truth. “I’m just working through some of the stuff that went down with Mel, Carm was there and knows what happened so it’s easier for me to talk to her about this. It’s not that I don’t want you around for that, but I’m so done with being hurt about it ya know? I just want to be okay and move on, so I’m trying to figure out how to do that.”

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to avoid me though. I want to help you, if I can. Can I do anything?”

“Thank you Ella, really, but I’m not sure there is anything really specific you can do. I’m sorry for pulling away from you. I’ll try and do better.”

Ella smiled and leaned up to hug the keeper. “If you need anything just let me know okay?”

“Will do Thunder. Thanks for not pushing me. I really do appreciate it.”

“Can I tell you something that might be kind of weird?”

Erin smiled, trying to make a light of the situation since Ella looked slightly uncomfortable. “Because you don’t say weird things often,” the keeper said with a laugh.

“Ha-ha, you are hilarious.”

“I’m sorry, go ahead.”

Ella looked down at her hands that she was fidgeting with, “I’m…I’m just glad you aren’t with Mel anymore. You deserve so much better.”

“Ella…”

“I know I don’t know a lot about that situation, or anything about the start of your relationship or anything, but, and you can tell me if I’m wrong, it just seems like she made you kind of hide a part of yourself, and you shouldn’t have to do that.”

“You’re right.” Erin said in a monotone voice, she was done talking about Melissa, and she didn’t want to think about it anymore, “you don’t know anything about it.”

The keeper got up and walked away, instantly feeling bad for being mean to Ella, but anytime Melissa was brought up she just shut down. She couldn’t move on if people kept bringing it up. Also it didn’t help that it was Ella, the girl she was quite possibly falling for, that was bringing up her ex. She walked to her room, shut the door and sank down to the floor with her back against it. She wanted to go right back out and apologize to Ella, but she just couldn’t do it. In her few minutes of silence she realized she was going to get no where, with moving on from Melissa or with Ella, if she didn’t start accepting that the past with Mel happened, and that it was now over. She decided that if Ella came in, which knowing the forward she knew it would happen, that she would try and tell Ella what happened in hopes of moving on.

Meanwhile Ella still stood, unmoving, in the kitchen. It wasn’t like Erin to just shut down like that on her. She knew that bringing up Melissa would be a touchy subject, but she didn’t know it would get her that reaction. She knew she needed to fix it, whatever happened just now, but she didn’t know if she should go after Erin or give her some space.

The forward paced around the kitchen for another 10 minutes before going down the hallway to Erin’s room. She hesitated for another 2 minutes before actually knocking on the door, and it took another minute to actually open the door after she heard Erin grunt; she assumed that meant she could go in.

Erin was laying face down on the floor of her room when Ella knocked so she mumbled into the floor hoping that she would understand that meant she could come in.

The forward silently padded into the room and mimicked Erin’s position on the floor. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too Ella. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“No, it’s fine, you were right, I don’t know anything about it, and I should have kept my mouth shut.”

Erin shuffled over a little bit and rested her head on Ella’s shoulder, letting her know that it was okay. “I don’t want to be pushed with that, but I think I just realized I might need to be pushed to get over it.”

“Well,” Ella said as she turned over so the keeper was resting more on her chest, “if you want, I can try and push more, but I don’t want you to shut down on me.”

“I promise I will try my best to let you in more, but it’s hard for me to talk about Ella.”

“That’s all I ask. Do you want to talk about it a little now? It’s okay if you don’t though.”

Erin shook her head and relaxed further into Ella. “Not really, I kind of just want to lay here for a little bit.”

Ella nodded. “Sure thing, you might want to move to the bed though, this can’t be that good for your back.”

Erin laughed, but shook her head and scooted closer to the forward. “I’m good right here.”

“Okay.” Ella said with a smile and a blush that Erin missed.

 

A couple hours later Ella woke up and found that their positions had been switched, she was now cuddled into Erin’s side, and they were on the keeper’s bed now. The forward had no recollection of them moving to the bed, so maybe Erin had moved them. Still, usually that kind of thing would wake her up, so she must have been out pretty good.

Ella smiled to herself and cuddled further into Erin, this was definitely something she wanted to happen more often, and that thought scared her a little bit. She knew Erin was still struggling to get over Melissa, and she didn’t even know if she, herself was gay, so now was not the time to be thinking about how good this felt. She knew she needed to give Erin space, but she couldn’t deny the fact that waking up in Erin’s arms was something that she wanted to happen again, and often.

After relaxing in her embrace for a little while longer Ella went to get up to see what Carm, Taryn, and Lori had planned for dinner, but Erin pulled her back down.

“Come back, you’re comfy.”

Ella laughed, but didn’t resist. “But I’m hungry too. I want to go see what’s for dinner.”

“Well considering it’s my turn, take out probably. Now shush, back to sleep.”

“Eriiiiiin,” Ella whined as the keeper tightened her hold, “let me go!”

Erin just shook her head. “Nope. Day off. Nap time. Comfy Ella. Sleep.”

Ella sighed, but relaxed back into the embrace. “Fine, but if one of them walks in and yells about having no dinner, I’m saying it’s all your fault.”

“Mm ‘s fine.” Erin said already falling back asleep.

Ella smiled at the keeper again as she watched her fall asleep. It only took a few minutes of watching her sleep to realize that, yes; she definitely had some sort of strong feelings for this woman. She was first hit with a sense of panic. What if Erin didn’t like her back, what if this was just a phase thing, what if, what if what if? After her moment of panic though, a smile broke out on her face. Erin was a great person; maybe it was okay to be feeling this way.

She relaxed again and started to fall asleep, she would talk to Carm about her feelings later tonight. After all, she had already hinted a little bit about how she felt when they were doing the webshow.

The forward buried her face in the crook of Erin’s neck and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

 

Two hours later Carm barged into the room with the intention of demanding where their dinner was, but stopped short when she saw the position her two best friends were in. With a smile on her face she took a picture, sent it to Erin with a bunch of heart emojis, and told her she owed her for covering her dinner shift.


	4. Chapter 4

The two woke up around 8 to the smell of food. Erin opened her eyes and smiled mostly because of the fact that Ella’s face was buried into her neck and she could feel the light breaths against her neck, but also a little bit because someone had covered her shift for dinner.

She felt Ella start to stir and mumble something into her neck.

“What did you mumble?”

Ella rolled away from the keeper, and Erin missed her warmth, “I said, looks like someone got your dinner shift covered.”

“Perfect, we can go back to sleep then.” Erin said. All she wanted to do was to keep the forward close, totally against her original plan.

“I’m hungry though. I already put off going to eat once because you wanted to nap still. If I don’t get up now I’m never going to get to sleep tonight and we have early training tomorrow.”

Erin groaned, and then blushed as her stomach audibly rumbled. “Fine, I guess we can go eat.”

“Good.” Ella said as she got up and walked towards the kitchen.

Erin grabbed her phone and saw the text from Carm. She really wanted to put the picture as her lock screen, but if Ella were to take her phone she wouldn’t know how to play it off and she didn’t want to make the forward uncomfortable if she were to find it.

When they walked into the kitchen Carm waited until Ella wasn’t looking to shoot the keeper a look that said ‘you better not fuck up.’ Erin nodded at the defender. She was falling hard and fast for the forward, she wanted to open up to her about everything, but Carm said Ella was confused, she didn’t want to confuse her even further, so she decided she would attempt to open up about her past with Ella, but would hold in what she was feeling now.

Carm broke the silence before it got weird. “I’m going out with Lori and Taryn later, so you guys have the place to yourselves. Maybe practice the song for the show at some point yea?”

“Yea sure,” Ella said. “I’ve really got nothing planned until later anyway.”

Carm laughed, “What you got a hot date or something?”

Ella looked up at Carm. “As a matter of fact I do.”

Erin felt her face and stomach drop, but before Ella could notice Carm stepped in again, “Seriously?”

Ella nodded and smiled. “Yea, I mean I’m not stressed about it, it’s just a tea party and dress up.”

Carm laughed out loud, and Erin finally regained her composure. “You going over to see Anaiah and Cambria?”

Ella nodded enthusiastically. “Yea, I’m babysitting so my sister and brother-in-law can have a date night.”

“Aww. How old are they again?”

“3 and 4. So I will definitely have my hands full tonight.”

“Well,” Carm cut in, “Erin doesn’t have anything to do tonight, maybe she could come help ya out?”

Erin started stuttering a reply, but Ella cut it. “If you want to you can, but I can handle it.”

Erin was so confused; a minute ago Carm is looking at her telling her not to fuck up, now she was volunteering Erin to go spend the night with Ella and her nieces. “I’ll…um…if you want some company I’ll go with you. They seemed to like me enough when they came to our season opener.”

“They did like you, both of you, said you were fun and talked funny,” she said with a laugh. “I’m sure they’d like to see you again.”

“Okay, we’ll rehearse a little bit for the show, and then head over.”

“Cool. I’m gonna go call my sister and let her know you’re coming too.”

After Ella got up and left the room, Erin whipped around to look at Carm. “What the hell was that?!”

“What do you mean?”

“All you have been doing is telling me not to fuck up, I’m really trying not to, but you’re volunteering me to go and babysit with her! How am I supposed so keep my distance and let her figure out what she wants if you’re not letting me give her space?” the keeper asked exasperated.

“I think I was wrong.”

“The hell are you talking about Carm?!”

“I think that maybe she needs you around to figure it out.”

Erin shook her head, “You are throwing for a loop dude.”

“I know, I’m sorry. But, she asks me questions sometimes, about like sexual fluidity and stuff, maybe you could help her out too. This would be a good chance for you to open up to someone, outside of the people who were there, about Mel; get a different perspective ya know?”

Erin sighed. “I hate you sometimes, you know that right?”

Carm came over and wrapped the keeper in a hug. “That is complete and utter bullshit and you know it. Love you too bud.”

“Yea, yea, yea. I’m going to go find the chords for the song for the show. Have fun with T and Lori.”

“Will do. Have fun with Ella.”

 

About an hour after Carm had left, Ella barged into Erin’s room with her keyboard. The keeper was startled and basically threw her sketchpad across the room. “Jesus Ella! Ever heard of knocking!? You scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Ella said as she picked up the sketchpad and handed it back to Erin, but not before taking a quick peek at what she was drawing. It was a rough outline of the Chicago skyline that was absolutely breathtaking. “Wow, that is seriously amazing Erin.”

Erin was blushing quite heavily. Normally she hated when people saw something before it was at least 90% finished, but Ella’s compliment erased that worry she normally felt. “Umm…thanks. It’s just an outline for now, nothing spectacular.”

“You’re joking right? This is phenomenal! Carm told me that you were artistic, but I had no idea you were this crazy good!”

“Well thanks,” she said still blushing. “You…uh, let’s just rehearse.”

“Hold up,” Ella said with a smirk, “are you actually blushing right now? Why?”

“I just don’t really like to have people see my stuff before it’s done. It’s just something that’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Are you crazy! This is so cool, it’s like you can see all of the minor details that normally get looked over when it’s done. Like I can see where you erased that line there and just re-drew it like a millimeter over so it would be better. I think that is so cool to see this process.”

“For real?”

“Oh yea. Can I…um…never mind.”

“Hey, go ahead and ask, can you what?”

“Could I…um…maybe sometime…could I watch you?”

Erin thought about it for a moment, normally she would be so quick to say no, she hardly even let Melissa watch her, but something told her that it would be different this time, maybe she might enjoy having someone around while she works. “Um, normally I’d say no, but I think I might be able to make an exception for a peasant,” she finished with a smile.

“Awesome! This peasant thanks you.”

Erin laughed and shook her head. “Let’s just find a song eh?”

After a while of searching and not finding anything that really stuck out to them, Erin spoke up, “How about you pull up Pandora, I’ll finish my sketch, you can watch, and we will just hope that something comes on that we like. I need a break.”

Ella nodded, “Sure, good idea.”

The forward pulled up Pandora on Erin’s laptop, she made sure it wasn’t too loud, and then took a seat to watch Erin in her element.

She was fascinated by the amount of focus Erin had and the attention to detail the keeper took. If a line was even just a tad bit off she would erase it and re do it. She was captivated by the fluidity in each of Erin’s strokes, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“This one.” Erin said to break Ella out of her trance.

“Huh?”

“This song. Are you even paying attention to the music?”

Ella shook her head and answered honestly. “Nope, not at all. I was too focused on what you were doing.”

Erin rolled her eyes and blushed again, something she seemed to do a lot around the forward. “Well, I think we should do this song. I like it a lot, and I think it sounds easy enough if you play it, nothing too complicated. I already know the words, so that takes a lot off.”

Ella listened as Stay played through the speakers on the computer. In another window she pulled up a website to try and find the chords, or a tutorial video for her to help learn the song. “This site has the chords, it doesn’t look too difficult. Would you be able to sing it in the same key or do I need to adjust?”

“Umm, play the song again and I’ll sing along. That key should be fine, but I just want to make sure.”

Ella pulled up the song and was again captivated by the keeper. Her eyes were closed and she was focused on the song; it really was a beautiful sight.

“I think this key should be fine.” Erin said, once again snapping Ella out of her daze.

The forward however was hit with a bunch of new feelings she didn’t understand at all, and in true Ella fashion, panicked as she fled the room.

“Cool, um…I’m gonna go…and um, learn it. Later!”

Erin just started at the space Ella had previously occupied. What the hell just happened?

Erin had given her space for a little while, but they were due to leave for Ella’s sister’s house soon to babysit so she sent a text to the forward.

_Hey, what time do we, or if you just want to go by yourself, need to leave for your sister’s house?_

It was about 5 minutes before the keeper received a reply. _WE should probably leave in about and hour…. if you still want to come with. Can we just forget about my dumbness earlier?_

Erin smiled, _I have no idea what you’re talking about;)_

Erin decided to take a quick shower before they headed over. She used that time to think about what happened with Ella today. Things were going well, she even had let her watch her draw, so why the sudden freak out when she was singing? Maybe the song was some sort of trigger for her, maybe she would ask later, but for know she would respect Ella’s request to forget about it.

“Ella, come on! If we don’t leave know we will be late!”

“I’m coming! Give me two minutes!”

“Hurry up!”

Erin waited as she listened to Ella bang around upstairs trying to finish doing whatever it was she was doing for another minute before getting ready to shout again.

“El-“

“Do not yell again. I’m right here. Now come on, we can’t be late.”

Erin rolled her eyes and kept her snarky comment to herself. “Alright, let’s go.”

 

When they got there Anaiah and Cambria were outside playing in the yard. As soon as they spotted Ella getting out of the car they dropped their toys and sprinted as fast as their little legs could carry them over to her. Ella knew what was coming so she went into a squat and prepared herself to be run into by her favorite munchkins.

Erin watched with a smile on her face and got out her phone to capture the moment, she figured Ella might want to post it later.

“Aunty Ella!” The two girls yelled as they ran into the forward full force, almost causing her to lose her balance.

“Hi cuties! I missed you soooo much.” Ella said as she squeezed the two of them causing their giggles to echo.

“You’re squishing us!” Anaiah giggled.

Ella laughed and pulled back a little so she could give them both big kisses on the cheek.

After a minute Cambria pulled away and looked over to the keeper. “Who are you?”

Ella was about to say something when Anaiah cut it. “No you don’t do it like that! Remember what Aunty Ella said we should do when we meet other people like when we went to her game?”

Cambria nodded and took her sister’s hand as they walked over to Erin who had squatted down to their level.

“Hi. I’m Cambria, I’m 3! This is my sissy Anaiah, she’s 4.”

“Well hi, I’m Erin,” the keeper answered with a warm smile, “I play soccer with your Aunt. I saw you when you came to our game, but I couldn’t come over to say hi.”

The girls nodded and Ella looked over with a fond smile on her face. “Erin’s going to say with us today too.” Ella said as she walked over to pick the girls up, one in each arm. Anaiah looked up and her, “Does she like to play make believe!?”

Ella leaned down like she was telling a secret and shot a wink at the keeper, “It’s her favorite.”

“YAY!” both girls yelled as Ella put them down.

Anaiah ran over to Erin and took her hand so that they could follow Cambria and Ella into the house.

“Honey, I’m home!” Ella yelled as they entered the house.

Ella’s sister came down the stairs and hugged her. “Thank you soooo much for doing this. We owe you big time.”

“Nonsense,” the forward replied, “you know I love doing this. I’m here whenever you want me to be. I just hope they are okay with Erin tagging along.”

On cue the turned to find both girls giggling as Erin chased them around the living room. “I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about that.” Seredy said, then she gave Ella a look. “So, is Erin here as your friend, or are you going to have to explain different kinds of relationships to my kids.”

Ella started to blush and stutter, “She’s…we’re just…it’s not like that…we are just friends Ser.”

She just rolled her eyes at the forward. “That is bullshit and you know it.”

Ella started to defend herself, but her sister cut her off. “Don’t even say nothing is happening. I could feel the tension as you walked in.”

Ella knew it was useless to try and change the subject. “I’m trying to figure this thing out. I don’t…I don’t know,” she finished in a defeated tone.

“El, it’s okay you know. It’s okay to have feelings for her.”

Ella just shook her head. “No it’s really not.”

“Course it is. Is it because she is a girl? Is that it? Because not a lot of people will care about that. As long as you’re happy.”

“No um…well not totally anyway. She just got out of a really long, serious relationship and I don’t want to confuse her while I’m still figuring out what I am feeling.”

She watched as her sister rolled her eyes, “Ella, the girl is head over heels for you, anyone can see that.”

“Ready to go?” Ella’s brother-in-law said as he came into the room.

“Yup,” she said giving Ella a look. “We should be back around 11:30, please have them in bed…”

“By nine I know sis. This isn’t my first rodeo with the munchkins.”

“I know I know. Thanks again. Bye girls, be good for Aunt Ella and Erin.”

“Bye mommy!” both girls shouted as they continued to play with Erin.

Seredy shot a wink to Ella as they left the house.

Ella turned at the sound of Cambria’s hysterical laughter. She saw Anaiah on the keeper’s back and Erin had Cambria upside down. Ella couldn’t help but take out her phone to capture this moment.

“Hey, you started all the fun without me!”

Erin smiled over to the forward, “Well, come on then.”

 

They spent the entire day playing make believe, dress up, hide and seek, making crafts, playing outside, and they even had a Princess tea party. By the time they ate dinner Ella could tell that the girls probably wouldn’t even make it until nine before they were out. “Did your momma give you a bath today yet?” she asked. In the past when she babysat it was usually bath time and then bedtime, but it had been a while since she had babysat this late so she wasn’t sure if the routine had changed.

Both girls shook their heads.

“You think we should take one so we can get our jammies on?”

“Are you and Erin going to play with us while we take a bath like you used to?” Cambria asked.

“Of course we are! I brought a fun bath time surprise for you to play with, so go get out the PJ’s you want to wear tonight and I’ll have the surprise waiting for you.”

Both girls hopped out of their seats and ran to their room to get their pajamas of choice.

“What did you bring them?” Erin asked

Ella smirked and pulled out a box of the Crayola makers that you can use on the shower wall. “I thought this would be fun.”

Erin smiled as they headed to the girls bathroom to start the water. “That is brilliant, they are going to love that.”

“I think they will too.” Ella said as she tested the water to make sure it wasn’t too hot.

The girls came running into the bathroom with their animal towels and pajamas in hand right when the tub was finished filling up.

“You both have your jammies and your towels?” Ella asked even though she could see them.

The both nodded and proudly showed off both items.

“Good job! Are you ready for your surprise?”

Again, the girls nodded enthusiastically and waited for Ella to show them what their surprise toy was.

The forward drew back the curtain so that they could see their names written on the shower wall with the markers. Ella had written their names, and Erin drew a monkey by Anaiah’s name and a princess crown by Cambria’s.

“Wow! How did you do that?”

Ella smiled and showed them the markers as they got into the tub. “You can draw on the walls with these, but only in the bathtub okay? You can’t use them on paper or anything else; they are special bath time markers.”

She was met with ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from her nieces before they started drawing on the walls.

Erin snuck a marker away and tested it out on her skin; it showed up just fine, and that gave her an idea. She scooted a bit closer to Ella before she shot a wink at the girls and then proceeded to mark on Ella’s face.

“Erin!” Ella shrieked over the other three’s laughter, “These are for the walls!”

Erin laughed and dipped her hand in the water. She easily removed the mark from Ella’s face. “There, all gone now.”

Ella rolled her eyes, “Yea, but look what you started,” she said as she pointed to the girls who were now drawing on each other instead of the walls.

“Relax, it comes right off. Let them play around party pooper.”

Ella dropped her jaw feigning anger. “I am not a party pooper.”

“Party pooper!” Cambria echoed.

“Look what you did, turned my own nieces against me. What do you think girls, does Erin need to be taught a lesson?”

“Yea!” they shouted in unison.

Ella grabbed a marker and struggled for a minute, but finally pinned Erin down and held her still enough so that she could draw a mustache on the keeper.

The girls got a kick out of it and they continued to draw on each other in the tub until Ella announced it was time for PJ’s. They rinsed off all their ‘artwork,’ dried off, and put their pajamas on.

“Okay kiddos, time for bed. I’ll be in to read you a story in a minute.”

Ella felt a little tug at her shirt so she bent down so she was eye level with Cambria. “Can Erin read to me?”

Ella smiled, “I’m sure she would. Why don’t you go ask her?”

Cambria walked over to Erin and held her arms up to be lifted. “Will you read me my bedtime story please?”

Erin smiled even wider, “Of course I will cutie pie!” she said as she carried Cambria to her room. “What story do you want to read?”

Ella smiled as she listened as Cambria’s voice faded down the hall telling Erin about her favorite stories.

She walked into Anaiah’s room to find the girl all ready with her book and snuggled up in bed.

“Aunty Ella?” she asked as she snuggled into the forward’s side.

“What is it cutie pie?”

“Can Erin come back with you next time? She is really fun, and she makes us all laugh a lot, especially you.”

“I think she would like it a lot if she came back too, she really like you and your sister too. She told me she had loads of fun with you today.”

“She did?”

“Yup. I think you’ll get to see Erin a lot more.”

“Goodie.” The four year old yawned as she fell asleep. Ella chuckled at the fact that they didn’t even make it to the story. She placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead then got up to go say goodnight to Cambria.

Ella paused at the door when she heard Cambria and Erin talking.

“You make my Aunty smile a lot.”

“I try to, your Aunty has a really pretty smile. So do you and your sister. I like making you all smile.”

“Can you come back and visit when Aunty Ella comes back?”

“Sure thing kiddo.”

Ella could sort of see them through the crack in the door and had to stifle a laugh when Cambria snuggled up into the keeper and she stiffened for a moment before relaxing.

“I love my Aunty a lot.”

“I know you do. She loves you so, so much too.”

“I think she loves you too.”

Ella was about to burst through the door to try and save this conversation from happening, but stopped as she heard Erin’s reply.

“Well that’s good, cuz I love her too,” Ella stomach exploded with butterflies, then sank down as Erin finished the sentence, “She is my best friend.”

“Nu-huh. Like love, love. Like mommy and daddy.”

“Why do you think that munchkin?”

“I can feel it.” The three year old stated confidently.

Ella chose that moment to come in and say goodnight. “Did Erin read you a good story?”

“Mhmm!”

“Good. It’s time to go to sleep now then. Goodnight cutie. I love you.”

“I love you too Aunty Ella.” She said as she got a kiss from her Aunt

Erin had stood up and started to walk out when Cambria grabbed her shirt and tugged lightly. The keeper turned around and was met with the three year old opening her arms waiting for a hug. “I love you too Erin. I had lots of fun today.”

Erin smiled as she hugged the girl back and kissed her cheek. “I had fun too kiddo. Love you too.”

Ella and Erin both had huge smiles on their faces as the left the room and headed to the living room couch. “They are officially the cutest kids ever.” Erin said as she plopped down on the couch.

Ella sat on the other end and propped her feet up into Erin’s lap. “They both really do love you.”

This caused Erin to smile even more. “I love ‘em too. How could I not?”

Ella just smiled and turned on the TV. It was about 10:30 when Erin heard the little padding of feet coming their way.

Cambria came around the corner with her blanket. “I had a scary dream.”

Ella lifted Cambria up and let her snuggle up with them on the couch. “What was it about baby?”

Cambria just shook her head, clearly she didn’t want to relive it.

“You wanna know what I do,” Erin said as she scooted closer to rub her back, “when I have scary dream?”

Cambria nodded shyly.

“I draw the thing that scared me the most,” she said as she got a piece of paper and a pen, “then I rip it up into tiny pieces so it can’t scare me anymore. Do you want to try that?”

Cambria nodded again and wiggled her way onto Erin’s lap then proceeding to draw what looked like a scary monster.

“All done.” Cambria said.

“Good job, now how about we rip him up?”

Ella and Erin helped her rip the monster to tiny shreds and throwing them away.

“Now he can’t get you anymore. Do you want to go back to sleep now?”

“Can I say here with you two?”

“Of course you can. Erin and I were going to sleep for a little bit too. You can snuggle with us.”

Eventually all three of them fell asleep, and when Ella’s sister came back she snapped a picture of them. Erin was asleep with her head resting against the back of the couch and her arm draped across it, Cambria was in the middle, head in Erin’s lap, but holding Ella’s hand, and the forward had leaned over Cambria to rest her head on Erin’s shoulder.

Her sister woke them up, put Cambria back to bed, and thanked them again for babysitting.

It wasn’t until they were back at their place that Ella saw the picture and the text, _Sure, absolutely nothing is going on. Yea right._  


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about any of the coming out/experiences they had. It is all made up.

“Carm, can I talk to you?” Ella asked tentatively as she knocked on the Canadian’s door.

The defender opened the door and rubbed her eyes, “It’s like 1am, what’s going on?”

“I know, I’m sorry. But we have the day off tomorrow so you can sleep in. Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Carm answered, she could tell it was serious, “what’s up?”

Ella didn’t say anything; she just pulled up the picture he sister had taken of them asleep on the couch.

“Why are you showing this to me?”

“I…we…it’s just we look…and I thought…”

“Ella, you two look like a couple in this picture, is that it?”

Ella just nodded her head and kept her eyes down.

“I need you to talk to me Ella, I can’t guess what is going on if you don’t help me out.”

“Everything in my head right now is a mess.”

“Why?” Carm asked, hoping that questions might be easier for Ella than trying to explain it herself.

“Because.”

“Ella, come on, it’s me, you know you can talk to me about this stuff.”

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“What doesn’t bother you?”

“The picture.”

Carm looked confused, “Then why are we having this conversation if you aren’t bothered by the picture?”

“That’s why! Isn’t it weird that it doesn’t bother me?” Ella asked timidly.

“No, absolutely not.”

“Shouldn’t it though?” Ella asked.

“No. Why? Do you think it should bother you?”

Ella let out a frustrated sigh. “I thought it was supposed to because…because I’m not…or I didn’t think I was…”

“Ella?” Carm asked carefully, “Do you think you might be okay with it because you might have some sort of feelings for Erin?”

“I…I don’t…I didn’t think…do I?”

Carm brought Ella in for a hug and rubbed her back with soothing circles, she could feel how tense Ella was. “I can’t answer that for you El. You’re going to have to come to that conclusion on your own. But I can tell you that if you do, it is 100% okay and none of us will think of you any differently just because you may have feelings for another girl. Everyone will love and support you just the same.”

Ella collapsed into Carm’s embrace and just stood there being held up by the defender. “I’m scared,” she finally whispered.

Carm had moved them over to her bed and laid them down. “What are you scared of?”

“A lot.”

Carm fought the urge to roll her eyes at the forward. “A little more specific please.”

“What my family will say, what if she isn’t over Mel, what if this fucks up our friendship.”

“Your family loves you so much Ella. They will be able to see that you are happy and that’s all that they will care about. As for the other stuff, you’re going to have to talk to Erin about all of that. Only she can really answer those questions for you.”

Ella snuggled up into Carm and asked in a timid voice that reminded Carm of a small child, “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Sure thing Thunder. I’ve got you.”

 

The next morning came around and at practice everyone could tell that Ella was off, but no one would say anything. They had never seen the forward so out of it before, but they could tell that Ella knew she wasn’t playing up to par. When they had a water break Carm was the only one brave enough to go over to the pacing forward.

“Hey.”

“Not in the mood Carm. I know I suck okay?”

“I was just going to tell you your boot is untied.” Carm said with a small smile.

When Ella looked down Carm spoke up again, “Gotcha.”

The forward just let out a small smile, “What are you, five?”

“Got you to smile though.”

Ella rolled her eyes, “Thanks. I’m trying to block the rest out and focus on soccer, but clearly it’s not working.”

“You can do this Ella, it’s just soccer.”

Ella just looked at Carm. “You and I both know that this season isn’t ‘just soccer’ right now. We aren’t getting the time we both expected.”

“Hey, don’t lose sight of that passion you have. Yea it isn’t going how we wanted, but we get to play soccer for a living, focus on that for the rest of the day. We can talk when we get home okay?”

Ella nodded at Carm. They were here because they loved soccer, she couldn’t let the other factors affect her the rest of practice.

She went out and played better for the rest of practice, not great, but better, and the rest of the team noticed and now felt more comfortable talking to one of their favorite teammates. Well, everyone except Erin. The keeper didn’t know why, but she felt like it had something to do with her, so she kept her distance.

Once they were all back at the apartment for the night Carm and Ella disappeared for about an hour.

During that hour Erin sat on the couch irrationally agitated. She knew it was dumb for her to be jealous of all the time Carm and Ella were spending together, but she couldn’t help it. She decided during that hour, that when they came back in she would start the process of explaining what happened with Mel to Ella so she could hopefully start to be 100% over her. She needed that to happen before she could even think about trying to pursue the forward.

In the other room Carm and Ella were talking about the practice and the previous nights incident. They were both frustrated with the lack of playing time that they were getting, but they helped each other realize that this is what they signed up for; there were no guarantees and they got to play the game they love for a living. Ella once again brought up her possible feelings for Erin, but the fear she still held onto about messing up their friendship and the possibility that she still might not be fully over Melissa. Carm told her, like she did last night, that that was something she would have to discuss with Erin.

When they came out of Carm’s room Erin decided to just bite the bullet. “Hey Ella?”

“What’s up?”

“That thing we talked about the other night? Can we go talk?”

It took Ella a second, but the she realized ‘that thing’ was the part about Erin opening up to her about Melissa after their little fight. “Yea, sure.”

They walked into Erin’s room and the keeper collapsed on her bed, Ella however didn’t really know where to go.

“You can come sit with me, don’t just stand there awkwardly.”

“Right, sorry.” Ella said as she got settled on the bed. “Um, so…how exactly do you want to start this?”

“Um, I don’t really know. Maybe just like start with a little bit of background stuff? I don’t think I can go into a lot of details just yet.”

Ella reached over and gave her arm an encouraging squeeze. “I’ll listen to whatever you want to tell me.”

Erin smiled, then took a deep breath and began. She told Ella how she knew she was different when she was 10, but she didn’t really know in what way until she was 13. She had kept it hidden until the year before she left to school. “When I told my parents, it wasn’t like a bad reaction, but it wasn’t a good one either. They just kind of never really brought it up again, so neither did I. It just wasn’t something we talked about; so it made it a little difficult to, I guess, know where I stood with them. I didn’t have a serious girlfriend until I went to Penn State. I did the whole bring her home for the holiday’s bit, but my parents didn’t really acknowledge that we were together. It’s not like they were rude to her or anything, but I guess they just treated her as one of my friends, not my girlfriend, so one night I kind of blew up about it and we got into this big fight.”

Ella had been paying attention closely the entire time trying not to interrupt, but she felt she could now, “You don’t have to talk to me about that if you don’t want too.”

Erin smiled and leaned back against the headboard. “It’s okay, we ended up figuring out that it was a massive miscommunication thing. My parents thought that because I never brought it up they shouldn’t, and I thought they weren’t bringing it up so I shouldn’t. We talked for hours that night after and it all turned out okay.”

Ella leaned back and took a position similar to Erin’s “I’m glad it all worked out for you.”

“Thanks Ella.”

Ella started fidgeting with the blanket beneath them, she didn’t know if she should bring up Mellissa or not. Erin said that she needed to be pushed, but the forward didn’t want to be shut out again.

“Go ahead and ask whatever it is before you tear the stitching of my blanket.”

Ella blushed and dropped the blanket. “Sorry. Um…that night…you um, you told me that you needed to be pushed to…uh…talk about Melissa. Do you want to talk a little bit about it now?”

Before the keeper could even answer one way or another Ella was off on a ramble. “I mean, you totally don’t have to if you don’t want to, it’s up to you. I don’t want you to shut down on me again so…”

“Ella, shut up. It’s fine. I do need to be pushed, so, um maybe a little bit I can do.”

“Okay.” Ella smiled encouragingly

“Okay, um, we had both been on the team for a while, and uh, we always flirted a bit, there really wasn’t much of a line that we didn’t want to cross. It started out just as a fun thing, but then I realized I was legitimately falling for her. I kept it hidden for a while but it just kept getting harder to hide. I guess it was starting to affect our normal banter so, her being the person she is, just confronted me about it and I just spilled. I told her that I had serious feelings for her and asked her out on a proper date right then.”

“So that’s how it started then? She just said yes right there?”

“Oh no, she laughed at me first and made me stress for a couple of days, then at the end of camp we had a night off and she told me to come pick her up at 8. I was so unprepared and went out into a huge panic to Carm’s room. She helped me get together a basket of food and said to take her to the park for a picnic. I don’t know what I would have done without Carm. We went on our date and she had told me she liked me too, for quite a while, but she didn’t know if I liked her.”

Ella let out a quiet laugh to try and mask how not fun this was for her to hear. “So you were both morons basically.”

Erin laughed as well. “Yea, but looking back those first couple dates should have been a warning.”

Ella gave her a confused look, “What do you mean?”

“She said not to tell anyone because she wasn’t ready to come out. Sure our teammates knew, but that was it. I couldn’t even tell my family until almost a year into our relationship.”

“Really?”

“Yea, she said she was struggling with coming out to her family, and she didn’t want the word to get around before she told them herself. Don’t get me wrong though, I would never want to push someone out that wasn’t ready, it just is hard to not be honest with your family. Here I was in this great relationship with someone I really liked, and I couldn’t even tell my family why I was so happy at that time. Eventually she came around though and we did the whole meet the family bit, but that was it, our teammates and family knew, which I was fine with for a while. But as the team started getting more and more press I wanted to officially come out so that I could try and be that role models for other kids that feel the way I did at their age.”

Erin hadn’t noticed, but during her story he had picked up Ella’s hand and was casually playing with her fingers. The forward didn’t want to bring attention to it, but she couldn’t help the small smile that took over her face.

“That was our first massive fight. She said if I came out then people would start to notice how close we were and she would get outed too, so I held out. That should have been the last red flag for me, but I ignored it. I wanted to be me 100% and that included talking about my sexuality. After a little while I started to kind of hint at it in interviews and stuff, but never said it one way or another. She got so mad at me. I guess that’s what started our spiral.”

Erin had a far away look in her eyes, like she had zoned out that Ella was even there. Once she started talking, it was like she couldn’t stop now; she had to get it all out.

“She went back to school, and I supported her in that, but the distance was hard on us. I went to visit her one weekend, and it seemed like we were looking up. We had a great time in St. Louis and she even introduced me to a couple of people as her girlfriend. I thought we were getting closer to being able to be out. Boy was I wrong though. The next weekend we were supposed to Skype and she bailed with out much of an explanation. Throughout the week we texted a bit, but she wasn’t very responsive, then we Skyped again then next weekend, that’s when she dumped me. She said she couldn’t do the distance, and that she was tired of keeping me from being myself. I told her I didn’t care about that. I would tone down talking about it if that is what she wanted, but she didn’t care, she was done, she just said we were done and that she was sorry, then she hung up. That was it. 4 years with her and it ended over a Skype call.”

The keeper hadn’t even realized her had been crying until she felt Ella’s hands come up to her cheeks to wipe away the tear tracks. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. You deserve the world, not someone that will hold you back from being you.”

Erin realized just how exhausted she was after talking about it and sank into Ella’s embrace. “Thank you for listening,” she mumbled into Ella’s shoulder.

During a moment of bravery Ella leaned down and placed a tentative kiss to the keeper’s forehead. “Thank you for telling me all of that. You truly are an amazing person Erin. Anyone would be so lucky to have you.”

“Not everyone.”

Ella assumed she was talking about Melissa, “She wasn’t worth it. You can do so much better than someone asking you to hide yourself.”

They stayed there silently with each other, just in a comforting embrace until Ella got up reminding her that they had an early practice and should probably get some sleep.

It was so quiet that the forward almost missed it, but as she was leaving Erin’s room she heard the keeper, “I wasn’t talking about Mel.”


	6. Chapter 6

The next few days were a bit tense between Ella and Erin, and the house was definitely noticing. Erin didn’t know what she did, but Ella was steering clear of her. Ella on the other hand knew exactly what was happening now. Ever since she heard Erin say that she wasn’t talking about Melissa it clicked in her mind, her sister was right, Erin did have feelings for her. The forward was confused though because she didn’t know if it would be smart to try and pursue something with Erin when she didn’t even understand her own feelings for sure, and she wasn’t sure if the keeper was over Melissa enough to even want to start something, but her comment from the previous night hinted otherwise.

Ella was currently lying in bed thinking about all of this when Carm knocked on her door.

“Hey thunder, you up still?”

Ella just let out a groan; she knew Carm would know that meant she could come in.

Carm walked in and sat down on the bed next to Ella, “We need to talk…well I guess I just need to.”

Ella could hear that something was off in Carm’s voice so she rolled over to face the defender. She could immediately tell that something was wrong so she sat up and gave Carm her full attention. “What is it?”

“I…uh…well…fuck,” she said as she puffed out a breath and ran her hand through her hair, “I’ve just been traded,” she blurted out, “I leave for Boston in two days.”

Ella sat up and was speechless for two minutes before stuttering, “W-what? No. You’re fucking with me and it’s not funny.”

Carm just shook her head and tried to hold back the tears. She had become so close to the goofy forward in all of the stuff with Erin that she hadn’t realized until now that she considered this ridiculous person her best friend, aside from Erin anyway.

“Carm. Please tell me you’re joking right now.”

All the defender could do was shake her head again; she knew if she spoke her voice would betray her and she would crack.

Ella felt like the world was caving in. Carm had become someone that she 100% felt comfortable with. She helped her sort our her feelings for Erin, she answered all of the questions about sexuality she asked, no matter how ridiculous they were, and she made her feel okay about having feelings for someone that was her own gender. What was she going to do without her?

The only thing either of them seemed capable to do at the moment was to shake their heads to try and hold back the tears.

Ella caved first and broke down after launching herself into the defender’s arms. “What am I going to do without you?”

“You’ll be okay. We both will.” Carm said, trying to be strong for the forward’s sake.

“Who am I gonna talk to about my fucked up head?”

“You can still talk to me whenever you want, about anything, you know that. We’ll Skype and text and call each other all the time to talk. It’s going to be like I’m still here.”

Ella just shook her head. “No it’s not, but thanks for trying to make me feel better about it.”

“It will be okay. I have to tell Erin tonight too; she deserves to know before I tell the rest of the team tomorrow at practice. Do you want to come with me?”

Ella still hadn’t let go of Carm yet and she shook her head before pausing and then nodding. “I need a minute though. Can we just stay here for like 2 minutes?”

“Of course we can.”

Both of them worked on drying their tears and being okay to go to Erin’s room to break the news, but it wasn’t really working out for either of them. You could easily tell that both of them had been crying.

It was too late to try and salvage anything because a moment later Erin walked in. “I thought I heard crying, what happened?” she asked concerned and went and sat on the bed by them.

Carm took a deep breath again, “I’ve been traded. I, uh, I leave for Boston in two days.”

Saying it again just made Ella breakdown all over again. Too many things were racing through the forwards mind to even care anymore though.

Erin leaned over and hugged Carm effectively trapping Ella between them. Of course she was upset that her best friend was leaving, but they had a bit of National team stuff so it didn’t seem as bad to her as it did to Ella, but she knew that Ella and Carm had gotten really close, so this had to be tough on the forward. She didn’t expect it to cause this massive of a reaction though. It told Erin that maybe Carm and Ella’s friendship meant even more than she had thought.

Erin found herself leaning onto Ella a bit more and rubbing her back soothingly. Ella subconsciously leaned into the touch and felt herself relaxing. “Hey, we’ll be okay,” the keeper spoke softly, “we will figure it out. We can do like Skype movie nights, Carm will wear her grays in Boston and it will be fine. We can do it.”

Ella just nodded and tried to find peace between the two Canadians. Both women were concerned with how she was handling things, she needed to get herself together a bit, she knew she was worrying her friends. “I’m sorry, it’s just…god this sucks…and you’re leaving, in two days! God we have to like do a show and say you’re leaving, I can’t host it by myself, who else wants to make a fool out of themselves with me, and…”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Erin interrupted, “Don’t think about that right now, we can sort that out later. But I will gladly make a fool of myself with you on the show, so there’s that you don’t have to worry about.”

“Yea, you and Erin will kill it. I mean, it won’t be as good as if Erin and I had done it, but ya know, you’ll be okay,” Carm said trying to get a smile out of the forward.

It worked and Ella let out a watery laugh, “You suck.”

“Aww, it’s okay, you’re just a peasant.”

That got another laugh as well and the mood shifted slightly into just a bit more of a teasing mood.

“I mean, the Prince will definitely class the place up for sure,” Carm said.

“Oh yes, I’ll remind Ella of her place in the castle constantly.”

“Good deal. I think we have successfully found a new host then.”

“Co-host.” Ella cut in with a groan.

“Yea, yea, whatever.”

Ella smiled as she shoved Carm off the side off the bed. The defender popped up and shot Erin a look; Ella knew she was in trouble.

Before Ella could take off, Erin and Carm had her pinned down on the bed. Erin sat atop the forward. “Say that you are a peasant and will never compete with the Prince or the Lion.”

“No!” Ella laughed as she tried to squirm away, but with Erin on top of her and Carm holding her arms down it was impossible.

“Say it!”

“Never!”

Ella tried to squirm again, but Erin shifted and it ended up that Erin was straddling Ella’s waist. Carm immediately noticed the shift in mood, Erin and Ella had both paused for just a beat and looked at each other, and Carm knew that if she said something they wouldn’t even know she was there.

Ella snapped out of it first and took Erin’s spacing out and used it to her advantage and pushed her off onto the floor.

“Peasant wins!” she declared semi hesitantly. She could tell that the mood had shifted, but she didn’t want it to get awkward.

“Don’t expect it to happen again.” Carm said with a laugh, “Come on though, let’s get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be rough.”

Ella looked up shyly, “Can I…can I maybe sleep on the couch at your place?”

“That couch is crap and you know it, just stay with one of us.”

Ella just nodded, she knew who she wanted to stay with, but she wasn’t sure if it would be weird.

“Why don’t you stay with me?” Erin spoke up, “Give Carm a bit of processing room and room to pack up a bit.”

Ella nodded. “Okay, sorry, I know it’s dumb, I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

Erin put her arm around Ella’s shoulder. “It’s not dumb, I wouldn’t want to be alone either. It’s just how I work. Carm likes her space sometime though.”

Ella nodded and followed Erin to her room.

Once they were settled, as best they could with a bit of that awkward energy still around, Erin spoke up, “Hey, um, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Um, I mean I’m super upset about Carm leaving too, but it just looks like you are really, really torn up about it. I guess I just want to make sure that you are okay.”

Ella shrugged. She really didn’t want to talk about it, but something about the keeper just made her want to, she couldn’t fight the pull the keeper had on her. “She’s just been there for me ya know? I don’t like to talk about things, I like to try and sort it all myself, but Carm has pushed me into talking about things, she has helped me sort out a lot. I…uh, don’t know if she talked to you, but I’ve had a lot of questions I guess about sexuality and stuff, and…she just…it’s…I don’t know what to say.”

“Hey,” Erin said as she pulled the forward closer, “I’m so glad you had her to ask. If, um, if you want, I can help with that too.”

It was getting late, and Ella was tired so she hadn’t really thought about what she said next, “You really can’t though.”

Erin looked confused. “What do you mean I can’t help?”

“Shit, it wasn’t supposed to come out like that, I’m just tired. I just meant that…um, I just…fuck,” Ella stopped and thought for a minute before just deciding to say fuck it, it was late and she knew that if she kept this bottled up she would go crazy, hell she already felt like she was.

“I ask about you.”

Erin was slightly shocked at that. “What do you mean you ask about me? Why don’t you just ask me about me?”

“Because. I just can’t.”

“Ella, why can’t you talk to me about me? What do you mean you can’t?” Erin wanted to know; she didn’t want to get her hopes up though by thinking that it might be what she hoped it would.

“Because you confuse me okay! I can’t explain it there are just these feelings and things that I don’t know what to do with and…”

“Hey,” Erin said, once again interrupting a ramble, “it’s okay.”

Ella shook her head and got ready to leave the room, “No, it’s not and I shouldn’t have said anything because I just fucked it all up, but dammit I just don’t know what to do about anything anymore and I…”

Erin had walked over to Ella during her ramble and the forward was so zoned out speaking she didn’t even notice until Erin had her pinned against the wall with their foreheads pressed together and a hand on her waist. “It’s okay. I promise it’s more than okay Ella.”

The forward was speechless; she couldn’t do anything with the keeper so close; she just lost all train of thought.

“You know why it’s okay?”

Ella just shook her head, finally regaining basic motor skills.

“Because I feel it too. I don’t know what this is, but I don’t want to stop. I think about whatever this is a lot Ella and I’ve come to a conclusion on how we should deal with whatever this is.”

Ella was ready to be shot down and asked to forget it all happened, but then Erin spoke up again, “I want to kiss you Ella.”

Ella’s head shot up; no way had she thought that was even a possibility at this time. “I…I…uh…you…but…I’m…am I…what about…um.”

Erin couldn’t take it anymore, she leaned in even closer so they were just a breath apart. “I’m going to kiss you now unless you tell me not too.”

Ella just stood there. She wanted Erin to kiss her, but she couldn’t voice it.

“Ella, I need a yes or a no.”

 

 

“Yes.” she whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

That was all Erin needed. She closed the minute distance between them and lightly pressed her lips against Ella’s.

It was not the passionate, aggressive, kiss that Ella was expecting at all, it was light and sensitive, and that gave her all the answers she needed. Whatever was happening, whatever was going to happen, Erin was 100% in. She didn’t want Ella to be too overwhelmed so she made sure it was a light kiss, but that it still held all of the emotions she was feeling.

After a moment, and far too soon for Ella’s liking, Erin pulled away. “Was that okay?”

All Ella could do was nod. That was definitely more than okay, and she wanted it to happen again, but all of her basic motor skills seemed to not want to cooperate once more.

Erin smiled and let out a small laugh. “You sure you’re okay? You haven’t moved.”

Finally Ella snapped out of it and was able to move her hand over Erin’s that was still resting on her waist and smiled shyly before leaning in again. “I’m good.” Ella mumbled right before their lips met once more.

Erin was a bit taken back by how quickly Ella leaned back in, and by the energy of the kiss. Ella was definitely going for it, and Erin had no complaints about that.

One of Ella’s hands was resting on the keeper’s neck, holding her in place, while the other rested high up on her chest, right over her heart.

Erin had both of her hands on Ella’s waist during the kiss, and once it got a little more heated, she pulled the forward closer to that the space between their bodies disappeared.

Erin’s thumbs had just started caressing Ella’s hips under her shirt when Carm burst through the door.

“THE HELL?!” she exclaimed as the other two jumped apart, “You wait until I have to leave to finally do this? I’ve been waiting for this to happen for WEEKS! Unless…have you been keeping this from me?”

Erin was surprised that Ella started to answer, “No…it’s…we just…we haven’t…I would have…”

Erin couldn’t watch the forward struggle anymore so she stepped in, “It just happened Carm. We wouldn’t have kept something like this from you, but we haven’t really talked yet, we were going to in a minute though.”

Carm laughed, “Yea right, if I would have walked in five minutes later you would have had her pinned to the bed I bet McStud.”

“Carm!” Erin chastised before looking over to Ella who looked like she was about to sneak out, “Stay here, we need to talk. And you,” she said looking back at Carm, “should go so that we can talk, and don’t say things like that. We will have plenty of time to let you know what we talk about tomorrow.”

Carm left the room with a wink and a thumbs up, while Ella just stood in the middle of the room awkwardly.

“Hey,” Erin said gently as she sat on the bed, “come over here please.”

She held out her hands and Ella couldn’t resist taking them in her own and allowing Erin to pull her on to her lap.

“Can you look at me please?”

Ella just shook her head; she was embarrassed that she had just forgot any sort of boundaries in the kiss.

“Please?” Erin asked again as she gently kissed Ella’s cheek.

The light kiss gave Ella enough confidence to look over. She was met with a shy smile, “Hey.”

“Hi,” Ella replied.

“So, we just kissed.” Erin said, figuring Ella would probably need simple and straightforward.

All she got in response was a nod however, so she decided to continue, “I enjoyed it a lot.” Again though all she got was another nod, “I would really like to do it again too if that’s okay with you.”

Finally Ella spoke, “Yea?”

Erin nudged at Ella’s cheek with her nose to try and get her to look at her again. “Yea.” She said confidently. “Can I? Because I really, really want to do it again.”

“You…you do?”

Erin laughed at the innocence of the question. “Of course I do. Did something I did make you think I wouldn’t?”

“No, it’s just…I didn’t know if…”

“Ella, you’re doing that thing again when you ramble. I’m going to need you to try and form an actual sentence for this. Or do you maybe want me to start?”

“Yea, you do that.”

“Okay,” Erin took a deep breath and started playing with Ella’s fingers as their hands lightly intertwined. “I really like you Ella, a lot, and I know that you’ve never been with another girl, but, I mean, you seemed kind of into that kiss.”

“I was.”

Erin smiled at finally getting a full sentence out of the forward. “Good. So we could maybe do that again sometime?”

“I…yea. I think I’d like that.”

“Yea?” Erin asked as she leaned in again.

Ella nodded and closed the distance once more.

This kiss was more similar to the first one. Erin just put light pressure on Ella’s lips. She wanted to let Ella know that this was about her and being comfortable with figuring things out with another woman. She didn’t push too much, and she just matched what Ella was comfortable doing.

Once it started to heat up a little bit though Erin pulled away. “We have to help Carm pack tomorrow, so we should probably get some sleep. Do you still want to stay here?”

“If… if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay.” Erin said as she got them situated under the covers by pulling Ella into her. “I know we still have a lot to talk about, and I know your mind must be a mess, well more so than it usually is,” she teased, “so let me take you out on a date on Friday?”

Ella finally relaxed a little bit into Erin. “I would really like that.”

“Awesome.” Erin said as she kissed the top of Ella’s head.

After a minute of comfortable silence Ella spoke up, “I know that you have to think I’m a confused mess, and I kind of am to be honest, but I know that whatever I’ve been feeling for you has been going on for a while, and I don’t want you to think that this is just some experiment for me. I’ve never been with a woman, but I’ve also never felt this way before about anyone, so I know that it means something special. I’ve talked to Carm a lot to try and help me figure it all out, but I think what did it was when we went to babysit.”

Erin was rubbing soothing patterns along Ella’s back to keep her calm in explaining it all, she knew it was difficult for her. “What do you mean?”

“My sister took a picture of us sleeping on the couch with Cambria.”

“And…?” Erin asked confused.

“We looked like a couple in the picture.”

Erin let out a chuckle, “I’m still not really following.”

“We looked like a couple in it, and I wasn’t really bothered by it at all. I liked that we looked like a couple.”

Erin smiled and kissed Ella’s forehead. “I’m glad that it made you happy. I also think that you might think that I’m still a little roughed up from my break up with Mel, but I just want you to know that ever since we met, you’ve taught me how to be happy again, and I really needed that. I was in a dark place, and everything you did, do, whether it involved me directly or not, pulled me out of there and put me back together piece by piece. I’m going to warn you though, I’m not completely healed yet, I have scars from that, but you heal them everyday. I wanted to wait until I was with out a doubt 100% healed, but I don’t think that can happen with out you.”

Ella stiffened slightly, it just felt like a lot of pressure to live up to and she didn’t know if she could handle it. But of course Erin noticed the tension, “Babe, we aren’t technically official yet and I can tell that this is something special. I never felt this way with her. Let’s just sleep now and see what tomorrow brings us okay?”

Ella smiled and looked up at the keeper, “You just called me babe.”

“Shit…sorry if that was too soon or made you uncomfortable or something. It just kind of slipped out and-“

Erin was cut off by Ella placing a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth. “I liked the sound of it.”

Erin smiled. “Good, because I’m probably going to do things like that a lot now.”

“I don’t mind. Now come on, sleep time. Like you said, we have to see what tomorrow brings.”

Erin stole one more kiss. “Goodnight beautiful.”

 

Turns out tomorrow would bring a lot of teasing from Carm after they explained to her that they were taking things very slowly so they could both continues to figure themselves and each other out.

“I’m upset that I won’t be here to interrogate you both after your first official date!!” Erin went over to hug the defender. “Aww buddy! I’m sure you will be calling, or Skyping, or texting us constantly. You can still do your interrogation.”

“I know, but it won’t be the same to see that one,” she pointed at Ella, “turn that lovely tomato color when she is embarrassed.”

“I do not look like a tomato!” Ella said indignantly. “Babe, do I look like a tomato when I get embarrassed?”

Carm dramatically clutched her chest. “Oh! You called her babe! Ugh that is so cute!”

Erin smiled and pressed a kiss to Ella cheek, “You are the cutest little tomato.”

Ella pouted and Erin saw it as her job to promptly kiss the pout away.

Carm just rolled her eyes. “You haven’t even been on a damn date yet and you are already giving me cavities.”

The two shared a smile before a mischievous look came over both their faces.   
“You know,” Erin said as she slyly smiled and walked to Carm. “I think our buddy is just jealous she isn’t getting any love.”

Ella smiled and they tackled the defender to the bed and proceeded to hug her tightly.

“Ugh! I can’t breathe!” Carm laughed, “You’re going to kill me!”

“Good! Then you can’t go to Boston!”

Carm laughed again, “But I wouldn’t be here either! I’d be dead!”

They loosened their grip a little bit. “I guess you’re right.” Ella said.

“I’m really going to miss you two idiots a lot.”

“We’re going to miss you too buddy. But the season is already over halfway over, and then we have Hawaii!”

“That’s true, and maybe you can invite your girlfriend, assuming you ask her to make it official soon, to come up to Vancouver during the off season.”

Ella smiled at the mention, “I’m pretty sure your future girlfriend would like that a lot.”

Erin smiled over at Ella with hearts in her eyes. Carm groaned obnoxiously and rolled her eyes, “You two, I swear, going to kill everyone with the sweet you are.”

Erin, who ended up in the middle when they untangled from their attack on Carm, pulled both girls into her. “One last group nap before we have to take Carm to the airport?”

Ella smiled and snuggled in while Carm spoke up, “Fine, but I better not wake up to you accidently spooning me and not her.”

“I’ll do my best.” Erin said.

After a few minutes Ella was out and Erin was just running her hand through her hair. She had a content smile playing on her lips when Carm spoke up before yawning and promptly falling asleep, “This is something special huh?”

Erin smiled, never taking her eyes off of Ella, and heard Carm fall asleep, before answering in a whisper, “Yea, I think it really is.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. School just started and I'm still trying to kind of find times to fit writing into my schedule.

When they woke up it was time to take Carm to their airport. They had a little goodbye dinner the night before, so that is when all of the other girls on the team said their goodbyes. Ella and Erin volunteered to take her to the airport the day of her departure.

Ella drove while Carm and Erin sat in the backseat talking. The forward kept glancing back at her best friend and her girlfriend? she would have to ask Erin about that later, and smiling at them. She was going to miss Carm so much, and even though she now had Erin to go to with all of her questions, she would still miss the other Canadian a lot.

She parked the car and they all got out, Carm sandwiched in between them, as they walked her to security.

Ella was already crying again, Erin held it together since she would be seeing Carm soon for National team duty.

The keeper was wrapped in a hug. “You take good care of her alright?”

Erin nodded, “Absolutely.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon bud.”

“Yea, good luck with Boston.”

They broke their hug and Carm opened her arms for Ella. The forward walked into Carm’s embrace and held her tight.

“I’m so, so, happy for you two idiots. Really. She is an amazing girl Thunder, you keep her close alright?”

“Mhmm,” she said as she squeezed the defender.

“You are good for her. Keep her smiling.”

“I promise. I’m gonna miss you.” Ella said as she started to tear up more.

“I’ll miss you too, but don’t worry, I’ll be hounding you about your first date before you know it, then you won’t miss me at all. I’m so, so proud of you for following your heart though El. I know you’re a little nervous about all of this, but Erin will be so good to you. I know she will. Don’t be afraid to ask her things and talk to her okay?”

“Okay,” Ella whispered out, “Thank you for helping me get here.”

“Anytime buddy. But you have to let go now or I’m going to miss my flight. I’ll talk to you soon buddy.”

“Yea, soon.”

Ella felt Erin’s hand rest on her back as she pulled away from Carm, so she allowed herself to be pulled into the keeper’s side as they watched Carm go through security.

With a final wave after she had gone through the gate, the two made their way back to the parking garage. Erin made sure she had a secure hold on Ella the entire walk back. “You okay babe?”

“Yea, I’ll be okay, I’m just going to miss her. She really has helped me a lot.”

Erin gave the forward a hug before getting into the passenger side of the car. “I’m so glad she was there for you, maybe one day you could tell me about it?” she asked hesitantly.

Ella smiled and reached across the console to hold Erin’s hand, “I will, probably sooner rather than later.”

“I’m glad you trust me with that. I just…I just want to let you know that this is all on your timeline babe. I know you’ve never done this before so we can go at whatever pace you want, I’m going to just follow your lead with everything we do, or don’t do. This is all about you being comfortable with everything.”

Ella brought their intertwined hands up and gently kissed the keeper’s hand. “Thank you, really, but like you said I’ve never done this, so sometimes I may not know what to do. I want you to do things as well with this, if it is too much or something I will let you know, but you don’t need to wait for my every cue on everything.”

“So,” Erin said with a cheeky smile, “I can do this if I want,” she said as she leaned over and kissed the forward’s neck, “and you will let me know if it’s okay?”

“I…uhh…yea…yea.”

Erin leaned over and kissed her again. “Good, because I really like doing that. But,” she said as she pulled away, “more will have to wait until after our first date.”

Ella rolled her eyes and muttered, “tease,” before pulling into their driveway.

“You love it. I promise, tomorrow will be well worth your wait.”

Ella smiled as she came to her room. “I can’t wait.”

Erin just smiled right back at her, she didn’t know if it would be okay to kiss her goodnight or not, so she was going to wait for Ella’s cue, even though she told her not to in the car on the way back.

“Erin?”

“Hmm?” she replied as she continued to just smile.

“You can kiss me goodnight you know. I’m kinda waiting for you to do that.”

Erin let out a small sigh of relief, “Good.”

With that she leaned down and gently cupped the forward’s face. She lightly kissed the corner of Ella’s lips. “Like I said, tomorrow will be worth the wait babe.”

Erin smirked and walked away with a smile on her face. She couldn’t wait for their date.

 

“Erin! What do I need to wear?” Ella shouted from her room. The keeper hadn’t given her any insight on what the date might be, so she had no idea what to wear.

“Just something casual babe. Jean shorts are fine. I don’t have anything fancy planned. Oh! And wear good shoes, there is a bit of walking involved. Are you almost ready?”

Ella frowned as she looked in the mirror for what felt like the hundredth time. “Yea, give me like 20 minutes.”

Erin smiled from the living room; she knew that it would be at least 30 before her girl was ready.

She was sitting on the couch in gray shorts and a V-neck when Ella walked out in a pair of jean shorts, a tank top and a scarf. “Is this okay for what we are doing?”

Erin took a moment to thoroughly check out Ella, with no shame, before replying. “That is absolutely perfect. You look gorgeous.”

Ella blushed and looked down to the ground; she wasn’t used to being blatantly checked out by another woman so all she could do was mutter out,  “Thanks.”

Erin smiled; she was going to take a lot of joy in making Ella blush. She offered her hand to the forward, “M’lady. Shall we?”

Ella just nodded and took the keeper’s hand. Before they got in the car Erin handed over a bandana for Ella.

“You’re joking right?”

Erin just smirked and shook her head. “Nope.” She could tell that the forward was going to do her best to try and get out of wearing the blindfold, but she had a plan.

The keeper deliberately walked closer to Ella so that she was backed against the car, then she slowly leaned in and kissed her. It wasn’t overly aggressive, but it was done with a purpose.

Once Erin could tell that Ella was lost in the kiss, she was having trouble herself not giving in, she brought her hands up and quickly tied the blindfold.

Ella immediately pulled away, “That is cheating!”

Erin just laughed before leaning in and kissing her again.

Ella’s mind felt like it was going 100 miles per minute, but at the same time completely blank. Knowing that she couldn’t see, she felt like her other senses where heightened and she found herself getting lost in the kiss again. However, this time around Erin got lost in it as well.

It wasn’t until she felt the keeper’s strong hands slide under the hem of her shirt that she pulled away blushing. “I…umm…”

“Too much?” Erin asked.

“A little bit yea,” she said slightly embarrassed.

“Hey,” Erin said as she lifted the forward’s chin up so hat their eyes would meet, “I told you, this is all about what you are okay with. I’ll keep my hands over the clothes,” she finished with a smile and a kiss to Ella’s cheek.

“Will you tell me where we are going now?”

Erin led the forward to her seat in the car, “Absolutely not.”

 

They casually chatted on the way to where Erin was taking them, and when they parked Erin knew that Ella would know exactly where they were, she lived her whole life near this place, and she was sure that Ella had been here before, but she wanted it to be a special thing they could do together.

“Okay,” Erin said as she guided Ella out of the car, “I know that you’ve been here before, but I just thought this would be a fun thing for us to do.” She was actually a little nervous about her idea.

She took the blindfold off and watched Ella’s light up. “The aquarium?! I love it here! I haven’t been in a few years! This it awesome babe!”

Erin smiled, partly for the fact that Ella’s smile was so big, but also because the forward had just called her babe. “Yea? It’s okay?”

Ella turned and gave Erin a quick kiss, “It’s perfect. Come on!” she exclaimed and she took the keepers hand and took off towards the entrance.

Ella was getting ready to pay for her ticket when Erin stopped her, “This is a date remember? Today is about me spoiling you.”

Ella smiled, and blushed a bit, as Erin paid for their tickets then held out her hand for the forward to take.

They walked around the small aquarium and Erin watched as Ella’s face would light up as she talked about something that was her favorite; she had a lot of favorites.

She was talking about one of the manatees and Erin had just zoned and was watching Ella’s facial expressions, she hadn’t even noticed that Ella had stopped talking and was now starting at her.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Huh?” Erin said snapping out of her trance.

“You were looking at me, not weird, but uhh, different I guess.”

“Oh, uh,” Erin stuttered, nervous that she had been caught, but then decided to make Ella blush with the truth. “I was just watching you. You’re smile is absolutely stunning. I love watching your expressions when you are passionately talking about something.”

Erin smiled when her plan worked and Ella looked to the ground, red in the face. “What do you say we go grab some lunch and then head to the next part?”

Ella just nodded, still looking at the ground; she had never felt like this with anyone, a simple compliment like the one Erin gave her reduced her to a blushing mess.

“Hey,” Erin said as she lifted Ella’s chin so that she could look at her, “You are such a beautiful person, and I really, really, want to make sure you know that. If it makes you uncomfortable though I can try and control myself a bit more.”

Ella took the keeper’s hand and started playing with their intertwined fingers, “It’s not that, it’s just…I…um, this is going to sound stupid, but I’ve just never really had someone pay that close of attention to me. It’s a new feeling, a good one, but I’m just not used to it. I…um…you know…. I think the same about you too.”

“You should be told you are beautiful every moment of every day.”

Ella stopped walked and got up on her toes to kiss the keeper. “You are amazing you know that?”

Erin shot a wink at Ella. “It’s nice to be reminded every now and again.”

Ella laughed at the cocky keeper. “You really are something else. Now come on, where is that food you talked about?”

“Right this way beautiful.” Erin said as she led the way to a diner across the street.

They ordered their food and just talked about their day so far.

“You said there was another part to this date?”

Erin nodded and finished chewing before replying, “Yea, I thought we might go to the museum. I know you’ve probably been there like a million times, but we haven’t been together before so you can like show me around to your favorite parts.”

“That is such a good idea! I love the museum so much! There is this entire section of animals from like every time period, it is so cool! Oh and I’ll think you will like all the cool Native American stuff. Some of the artifacts have some cool designs on them that I think you would really like. “

Erin smiled at how excited Ella was, little did the forward know though that Erin had done her research about some of the stuff in the museum so that she could hopefully impress Ella a bit.

They walked around the part with the animals hand in hand for a little while. The took goofy pictures of one another and talked about their favorite animals before making their way over to the Native American part of the museum.

Ella led Erin to what she thought the keeper would like to see the most. As strange as it sounded Ella knew that Erin would be very interested in the tools and weapons that they had; not because Erin liked tools and weapons, but because she knew that the keeper like the creativity that the Native Americans used.

“Babe, this stuff is so cool!” Erin exclaimed as she went from looking at one item to the next. “Look at how they designed this, it can do like 4 different things! Like the original Swiss army knife, and look at the designs on them! Did you know that the women actually made and decorated a lot of the tools? They would decorated them so that their husbands would always be reminded of them when they went on long hunting trips.”

“Really? That is pretty cool. Are you going to make me something so I can remember you during the off season?” Ella asked with a smirk.

Erin knew that the forward was joking, but that actually didn’t seem like a bad idea, so she turned it into a serious conversation. “Do you want me to? I will if you want something.”

“I…I was just…um…yea I kind of do. That would be a nice thing to keep around with me.”

Erin smiled and leaned over for a kiss. “Then consider it done. Something smaller so you can take it with you since you don’t really know where you are going to be during the offseason?”

Ella blushed at the though of having something like that done for her, but it was such a sweet gesture that there was no way she was saying no; plus she knew that whatever Erin made for her would be one of her best works.

“Yea. I would really like that.”

Erin leaned in for another kiss. “Do you want to head back to the apartment? Dri is out for the day, we could go back and just watch a movie and get take out or something.”

Ella wrapped her arm around Erin’s waist, “Sure, that sounds great. Is Max at your place or with Alyssa?”

Erin had her arm across Ella’s shoulders. “Why you want to cuddle with him instead of me?”

“Never, I want all three of us to cuddle.”

Erin smiled and brought Ella in closer, “I think we can manage that. You do know that Carm is going to call you tonight though right?”

They got in the car and Ella reached over the console and took Erin’s hand. “Yea I know. I can’t wait to tell her how great this was.”

“Yea? You had fun?”

“Of course I did! I think this was the best first date I’ve ever been on.” Ella told her shyly.

“Yea? The best?”

Ella nodded and started blushing again.

Erin leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Good, because me too.”

Both women had big smiles on their faces for the rest of the trip back to the apartments as they talked about what movie they wanted to watch.

When they got back Erin went to pick up Max and told Ella to pick a movie and a take out place and they would order when she got back.

Ella already knew what Erin liked from all of the local places so she went ahead and ordered for the both of them, she also was very proud of the movie choice she picked as well. She let the movie load and then waited for Erin and Max to return.

After about 5 minutes she hears the door open and the padding of Max’s paws as he ran over to her.

“Hi buddy!” Ella said as she lifted the dog to her lap. “I missed you!”

Max was clearly happy to see the forward as well because he was barking happily and started to attack her face with kisses.

“Hey! That’s my job now Max!” Erin said with a laugh, “Let me love on her too.”

“Aww baby are you jealous?”

Erin pouted and nodded her head as she sat down next to Ella.

“Well does this make you feel better?” she asked as she gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

The keeper just shook her head and continued to pout, so Ella leaned over again and gave her a soft peck on the lips. “How about now?”

Again Erin just shook her head, pout still in place.

Ella smiled before shifting her position so that she was straddling the keeper. She was a bit shocked with her own boldness, and it was clear that Erin was a bit taken back as well, but it just felt like a natural thing to do.

That got a reaction out of the keeper. Erin looked on, waiting for Ella to make a move, if she did what she wanted she knew she would scare Ella away.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” Ella replied shyly.

“Can I have a kiss please?” Erin asked, trying to calm down Ella.

However, it didn’t really work because that is when the food chose to arrive so the forward bolted to the door to retrieve it. She didn’t really think that through though, so that meant that she had to awkwardly walk back into the room.

Erin stood up and took the food from Ella and set it down on the table. Then she pulled the forward back onto her lap, this time so she was sitting sideways.

Ella wouldn’t meet the keeper’s eyes though, so Erin lifted her chin. “This seat here,” she said as she patted her lap, “is always open for you whenever you want it, in whatever context you want it okay?”

Ella just nodded. “I’m sorry I’m overthinking everything.”

Erin gave Ella a quick hug. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to apologize for anything like that.”

“I’ll try, but I’m afraid that stuff might happen kind of often.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Erin leaned in for another kiss, but she was interrupted by Ella’s phone ringing.

“Ugh.” Erin groaned as Ella answered the phone. “Tell whoever it is to call back later!”

Ella laughed and held the phone up to Erin’s face, “Tell Carm that yourself then.”

“Heeey buddy. I was just kidding. You know I love to talk to you.”

“Mmhmm. Whatever you say. I was just calling my favorite peasant to see how her first date with a lady was, but I see that it is still going on.”

“To answer your question,” Ella said, “It was an amazing first date. Best one I’ve ever been on.”

“Good! See Erin all that research you did to sound smart worked!”

“Carm!”

“Awww you wanted to sound smart for me? Babe! That’s so cute.”

“Bye Carm!” Erin yelled as she took the phone and hung up on the defender.

“Erin! You can’t just hang up on her.”

“Sure I can. She’ll call back tomorrow. Now, what movie are we watching?”

Ella smiled and pressed play, anticipating the title screen and Erin’s reaction to seeing it.

A smile lit up Erin’s face. “This is my favorite! How did you know?”

“You just seemed like a Peter Pan type of girl.”

“Well I certainly am. Excellent pick baby.”

They spent the rest of the night on the couch eating and cuddling while being captivated in the second star to the right.

When the movie was almost over Erin noticed Ella yawn so she shifted a bit and then invited Ella to lay her head in her lap.

The forward gladly took the position that the keeper offered, and was asleep in minutes thanks to Erin gently running her hands through her hair.

The keep just looked down at the sleeping forward in her lap with a smile on her face. In that moment she knew that this was something she wasn’t willing to let go. She was 100% in love with the girl snoring softly in her lap.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't too eventful, but I wanted to get something out and help move the story along a bit. I'm still trying to fit writing into my new school schedule so stay with me until I can figure it out :) Thanks for all the love with this!

Erin ended up carrying Ella back to her room that night, and when the forward unconsciously didn’t want to let go, it took all she had to not lay down with her. However, she knew that if she did, then in the morning Ella would wake up and freak out so she pried herself away, tucked her under her blanket, left a kiss to her head, and then quietly left the room.

Once she was back in her own room she shot a quick text to Carm asking if she was still awake. She got her answer moments later when her phone rang out for FaceTime.   
“So good date then huh buddy?” Carm said with a smirk.

“Carm I need you to be serious for a minute okay?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I love her.”

Carm just stared at her. “Is that it? Because if it is, glad you finally caught up with the rest of us. Everyone could already tell that. You and Ella are the last ones to this party bud.”

“What are you talking about?” Erin asked confused.

The keeper just watched as Carm rolled her eyes, “Please. The entire team had bets about when the two of you would realized how made for each other you were. I mean for real Erin, Ella started questioning her own sexuality when you came along. That should have said something right away.”

“Well I didn’t know she was questioning herself! That was a thing you two talked about. I didn’t know that information until you helped her figure it out. Which thank for that by the way, I don’t want to think about how long it might have taken if you hadn’t been there for her.”

Carm just smiled at her friend. “I’m just glad the two of you are so happy. Are you going to tell Ella that you love her?”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Erin said, “I don’t know if it will freak her out. I mean just earlier today she sat on my lap, but then freaked out a little bit. I told her that we would go at her pace, whatever she is comfortable with, but I don’t know if I can not tell her that you know?”

“I get what you mean. I don’t think it will freak her out though; sure she might do that tomato thing, but I don’t think it would be a bad thing for you to tell her. Have you guys talked about Mel? I know that was weighing heavily on her.”

“What do you mean?” Erin asked.

“Well when we talked she would ask me if you were okay to move on. She didn’t want to push you if it was too soon, and she wasn’t really sure if you were over her.”

Erin nodded at her friend. “Yea we have talked a bit. I told her that I was broken after that, but whenever she was around I felt like I was being put back together. I said I didn’t think I could be whole again with out Ella. I think she has to help me.”

Carm just smiled, she knew that something different was happening. “I think that is great that you have talked about it. I know Mel hurt you, but I will continue to stand by what I told you back then, things happen for a reason. All the hurt that Mel caused, it led you to Ella, and I think that is where you are supposed to be.”

“I do too. Thanks Carm.”

“Anytime, you know that bud, now get some sleep. You and your girl had a busy day, which I still want details on by the way, but you can tell me about them later.”

“Thanks Carm. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“No problem buddy.”

After Erin hung up the phone, she got ready for bed and just lay there reflecting on the great day that she had with Ella. She loved making the forward smile and laugh, and she hoped she got the opportunity to continue making her laugh and smile for a really long time.

She was just lying in bed smiling to herself when she heard her door creak open.

“Are you still up?” Ella asked poking her head in the room tentatively.

“Yea, what’s up? Are you okay?”

Ella just stood awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing what to say, but the keeper just laughed at the embarrassed girl, “Come here babe,” she said as she lifted her blanket, “why aren’t you asleep?”

Ella shyly climbed in, trying not to overthink things. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t sleep and I thought, I thought maybe you weren’t sleeping either…so we could be awake together?”

Erin tried her best not to laugh at Ella’s self-consciousness, but she couldn’t help it and let out a small chuckle causing Ella to try and recover. “I mean, never mind you were probably almost asleep and…”

She was cut off when Erin wrapped her arms around her waist and brought her back down against her so that they could cuddle. “I’m sorry I laughed at you. You’re just so cute about this all. You are always welcome in here, day or night, you know that. I mean that was a thing you did before we were together, it’s not about to change now that we are; in fact I 100% encourage it to happen more often now.”

Ella finally started to relax a little bit against the keeper’s side.

“Okay.”

Erin started gently rubbing her back, “So why couldn’t you sleep? We have a travel day tomorrow.”

“I…um…I just kind of…um…I just wanted to be here instead; with you. Not alone in my room.” Ella finished blushing.

Erin turned her head to give the forward a kiss on her cheek. “I’m glad you wanted to be here, I want you to be here too. Let’s get some sleep now thought ya? I know you can’t sleep on planes very well.”

Ella turned to look at the keeper questioningly, “You noticed that?”

Now it was Erin’s turn to be a bit shy, “I mean, yea, I noticed a lot about you.” Erin contemplated saying what she did next, but after her talk with Carm it felt like something she should do. “You tend to notice a lot about a person when you are falling in love with them.”

Ella was shocked at the keeper’s confession so all she could manage was a quiet whisper, “Love?”

“Yea. I know it’s early, like way early, and I’m not expecting you to say it back, like at all right now because I know this is new for you so it may take a while for you to kind of figure what you’re feeling, but yea, I love you. I think I have since that first night Carm made me sing.”

Ella, since she was never good with words anyway, reacted in the only way she could; she leaned over and kissed Erin, hard. She couldn’t really say that she was in love with the keeper just yet, but she knew that she had never felt this was before, towards anyone.

Luckily Erin had grown accustomed to Ella’s not so conventional way to convey her feelings, so she knew what Ella was trying to say with the kiss and the blush when she pulled away.

“Let’s get some sleep Thunder. Goodnight love.”

“Night babe.” Ella mumbled already falling asleep.

Erin just smiled down at the now slumbering forward. She was definitely in love.

 

When they got on the plane Erin talked Dri into switching seats with her so that she could be by the forward. They hadn’t told the team anything yet, she wasn’t sure Ella wanted too, but she wanted to be there to comfort Ella on the plane.

“Hey, I thought Dri was my seat partner.” Ella said confused

“Well,” Erin replied with a grin, “I talked her into switching with me, if…if that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. I would rather hold your hand during take off and landing anyway.”

“Yea?”

“Of course. I mean we are dating, you do know that right?” Ella asked teasingly.

“No I know, I just…I wasn’t sure if you wanted anyone else to know that just yet.”

“Babe,” Ella said, which did cause a few of the teammates around them to smile knowingly, “They’re our teammates, I don’t care if they know. Honestly I think most figured we already were.”

The plane started to move, so Ella instinctively reached over for Erin’s hand as she spoke up. “I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable with them knowing.” She paused to untangle their hands and instead put her arm around the forward and let her cuddle into her side as the airplane left the ground. She pressed a kiss to her temple after a few minutes, “You good baby?”

Ella smiled up. “Yea, it’s not as bad with you here,” she said with a shy smile.

“Oh my god,” Lori groaned from a few rows up, “You two are gross, but in that sweet cavity in my teeth way.”

Ella blushed and hid her face in the crook of Erin’s neck while the keeper just laughed. “Hey you said you were cool with them knowing, they are going to tease us babe.”

Ella just kept her head where it was as more of their teammates started to tease them.

“Alright, alright,” Erin said after a while of teasing, “We know we are cute and you’re all jealous, but I want to nap so lay off so I can get some sleep.”

“Someone keep you up late?” Jackie teased.

Erin just rolled her eyes and let Jackie have the last word. “You okay babe? You know they are just teasing us because they like us right.”

Ella nodded, “Yea I know, just, um, Jackie’s comment.”

“Hey, don’t worry about that okay? We will talk more about that tonight though if you want to like, lay some ground rules, with the team, ya know what they can and can’t tease us about. We can do that later; let’s just take a nap now okay? Get comfy babe.”

Ella smiled and snuggled into the keeper’s side. Her head was gently resting on Erin’s chest, but she still couldn’t get comfortable. After squirming around a bit Erin laughed, pulled the armrest between them up, and then patted her lap indicating for Ella to rest her head there instead. The forward was out like a light in a matter of minutes.

Erin had her right hand gently resting on Ella’s stomach and the left was playing with the forward’s hair absentmindedly. She was smiling to herself just thinking about how lucky she was when she felt a water bottle cap hit her in the head.

“Oh so you are at least semi aware of your surroundings.” Z teased.

“Shut up.”

“Do you know how long you have been staring creepily at your girlfriend? 8 minutes and 34 seconds, and that is just when we started timing you. You were doing it for a little while before we started too.”

Erin just rolled her eyes, “I mean, can you really blame me? Have you seen Ella? She is gorgeous. Hell yea I’m going to stare now that I can.”

 

Ella had woken up when the plane was landing, but Erin kept her calm and held her once again until the wheels touched the ground.

They had the rest of the day to themselves so the two did what most everyone else elected to do, go crash in their rooms.

Erin and Ella were normally roommates on the road, but with the new development in their relationship, Rory shot them a look as they went to their room.

“Our coach thinks we are going to have sex all night.” Ella deadpanned as the door shut.

Erin knew that Ella would immediately start freaking out; they hadn’t really had a conversation about this yet. “Hey, want to come sit with me?” Erin asked from the bed; Ella started pacing the room when they got in.

Ella just shook her head and continued to pace.

Erin sighed and got up to stand in front of the forward. “Hey,” she said as she gently held Ella’s hips, “let’s go sit and talk yea? I’ll do most of the talking if you want. You can just nod or shake your head. Does that sound good?”

The forward slightly nodded and allowed Erin to pull her down to her lap.

“You don’t feel any pressure from me do you?”

Ella shook her head. “Of course not.”

“Are you feeling a bit of pressure from other people?”

“Yea, a little. People are just assuming we have and I just don’t know how to deal with it.”

Erin started gently rubbing the forward’s back, “I can tell them to back off if you want. That is none of their concern.”

Ella sighed and relaxed into the keeper. “You don’t have to do that. I can just deal with it. I mean it’s going to happen soon so…” Ella stopped after realizing what she just said. “I mean…not soon, soon…but, I mean…shit.”

“Hey, there is no rush okay? Let’s get some sleep, I’ll tell the girls to tone it down tomorrow, and then we will go out and kick ass okay?”

“Okay. Thank you for being so great.” Ella said as they got settled into bed.

“You don’t need to thank me.” Erin said as she brought the forward closer to her. “I love you babe, goodnight.”

“Goodnight baby.”

The game didn’t quite go how they had hoped, and Ella was still a bit upset about the lack of minutes so she went back to the room in a bit of a huff. Erin knew how Ella operated, so she gave the forward the room for a little while she went and called Carm.

“Hey buddy, though game.”

“Yea, Ella still isn’t happy about the playing time, and we just haven’t been clicking as a team.”

“I’m sorry bud, but the season is coming to an end, so maybe some stuff will happen in the off season that will be beneficial to you guys.”

“I hope so.” Erin said dejectedly.

“Changing the subject to put a smile on your face; did you tell Ella you loooooove her?”

Erin smiled “Yea. I did.”

“Awww!  How cute! I am so happy for you.”

“Thanks buddy. I should probably go back to her now. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later bud. Tell Ella hey and to keep her head up.”

“Will do.”

Erin hung up the phone and made her way back to the room. When she got there she found Ella in a pair of sweats and her Penn State hoodie curled up on the bed seemingly asleep, so she changed and curled up next to her. Ella turned so that they were facing each other and cuddled in closer.

“I thought you were asleep.”

Ella just shook her head. “I couldn’t fall asleep without you. You were gone for a while.”

“I was talking to Carm. She says hey, and I thought you might want some time alone.”

Ella just shook her head and held the keeper tighter. “Just wanted you,” she mumbled into Erin’s neck.

Erin smiled and brought Ella in for a kiss. “I’m here now. I got you. Do you want to go to bed or do you want to talk about the game?”

“Let’s just sleep. Goodnight baby.”

“Night Ella, love you.”  


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only read through this once so apologies for mistakes and such, but you all are smart enough to figure them out :) Thanks for being so patient as I try to find time to write with school being a thing again. Also any and all ideas are welcome, if you have something you want to see leave a comment, I do see them all :)

As the season was wrapping up Ella continued to get more and more frustrated. Not just with the Red Stars, but with some personal issues too. She was upset about the lack of playing time she got, the little bits of lack of professionalism in the office of the Red Stars, and some stuff about the divide between players.

She had spoken with Rory thinking that it would help her get a picture of where maybe next season was headed. So after practice she went over as the rest of the girls went to the locker room.

“Hey Rory, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure Ella, what’s up?”

“Well, I know the season is winding down, so I want to know what I need to do in the off season to get more minutes. What do I need to work on?”

Rory let out a sigh and Ella immediately knew that she wasn’t going to like the answer, “Ella, you’re great, you know that, but we’ve got a lot of young guns here, and I just see you as being more of that super sub we will need in the latter parts of games to pick up the intensity. I know that is not what you want to hear, but I also know better than to tell you anything that isn’t the truth.”

Ella was majorly disappointed, but she tried to hide it as best as she could, “Well, thanks for being honest with me I guess.”

“You’re welcome.”

And that was that.

Ella walked back to the locker room as a few of the girls were leaving so she figured by the time she got ready to go it would most likely just be her and Erin. She took her time and she could tell that the keeper was getting impatient, but she also knew that Erin knew well enough that she would explain everything later, so the keeper dutifully waited for her girl.

Ella walked over when she was finished and held out her hand for the keeper, “Thank you for waiting. Let’s go home and I’ll talk okay?”

Erin smiled, gave her hand a squeeze and lightly kissed the forward. “Whatever you want baby.”

Ella was silent on the way home, she didn’t even try to beatbox along with the radio and Erin’s singing, so the keeper knew that it was something pretty serious, which also meant Ella would try to procrastinate telling her. She wasn’t surprised when Ella disappeared to take a shower, but when she still didn’t join Erin and Max in the living room after an hour and a half the keeper went up to their room to investigate.

Erin heard Ella speaking as she got closer to the door. “I love you too mom, thanks. I’ll see you soon.”

Erin tentatively knocked when she Ella hang up. “Can I come in babe?”

“Yea, of course.” Ella answered.

Erin walked over to Ella and pulled her to sit on her lap on the bed.

“Do you want to talk about what happened after practice?”

“No.” Ella stated bluntly.

“Babe, please talk to me.”

Ella sighed and nestled into the keeper. “I talked to Rory about what I need to do to get more minutes since I’m not happy with the time I’m getting.”

“Well that’s good, you deserve more than you are getting. What did he say? I’ll help you work on whatever you need.”

Ella just shook her head; “He said he sees me as more of a super sub at the end of games.”

“WHAT?! That is crazy! You are one of the best forwards in the damn league! You should be starting games!”

Ella managed a small smile at Erin’s uplifting words. “Thanks, but he doesn’t seem to think that.”

“Well fuck what Rory thinks!”

“Erin! You can’t say that about our coach!”

Erin sighed, “I’m sorry, but he is wrong.”

“What if he isn’t though? I mean, I’m not a young gun anymore.”

“Ella,” Erin stated as she turned the forward to look at her in the eye, “Rory is wrong. Don’t _ever_ think that all you can be is a sub. I don’t want to hear you put yourself down like that again okay?”

Ella managed a small nod. “Okay.”

Erin figured it was best to be honest with the forward and voice an idea she had been thinking about since she overheard Alyse talking about it.

“Um I heard something the other day that maybe, you would kind of, um, might, if you wanted to, think about.”

“What is it Erin?”

Erin took a breath, “Well, I overheard Alyse talking the other day about Houston. It sounds like they want to expand next season and become a part of the NWSL.”

“Okaaaay.” Ella said not really following.

“Well when I went up for the game a little while ago Mel was saying she was looking to get into the mix of Canadian players since it doesn’t look like Desi is wanting to come back.”

Ella rolled her eyes at the keeper, “Please get to the point. I’m not following this.”

“Right, sorry,” Erin said. “Well, if Houston does become a part of this, odds are that is where Mel would get allocated, but she has an internship opportunity in Chicago so if she wanted it then she would have to come here and another Canadian would have to go to Houston.”

It clicked in Ella’s mind, well part of it anyway. “You want to go for her if Houston happens?”

Erin nodded shyly, “Kind of. It’s not like it would be a great thing if we were both here, we hardly speak anymore, and it wouldn’t be good for the team. Plus, you know how I feel about the organization, it’s good, but not great, and Taylor is a talented keeper, but we just aren’t really close and it’s important to me to be close with my keepers; we feed off each other.”

Ella just put her head down, “Oh.”

Erin was confused for a moment before it came together in her head that Ella wasn’t following with the entire idea she had. “Babe, no, hey, look at me.” Once Ella put her head back up Erin continued. “I want you to come with me. If Houston is happening, and Alyse made it sound like it was, then there will be an expansion draft, you could get drafted then we could both go…if, um, if that would be something you wanted to do.”

Ella thought about what Erin had just said. There were so many factors to consider. Chicago was her home, this is where her family lived, but she couldn’t continue being unhappy with the team. “Yes.”

Erin’s head whipped around to do a double take at the forward. “Yea? Did you just say yes? Because that was a really fast decision. Don’t you want to at least think about it? I mean, you have a lot here, that is going to be hard to give up.”

Ella smiled a bit, “I have. When I was talking to my mom I was ranting about today, and just the season in general. Want to know what she said to me?”

Erin smiled and kissed her cheek, “Of course.”

“She said, ‘Ella, you aren’t happy. Find your happiness, then you will find your answer.’ My happiness is you. I want to go wherever you go.”

“I love you so much Ella. I feel the same way about you.”

“Well,” Ella said with a smile, “here’s hoping for Houston!”

 

The season ended in disappointment, just like they had feared it would, but it was official that the Houston Dash would be a part of the 2014 NWSL season, so it was looking a little bit brighter, until Ella realized that Erin would be going to residency and she would be, well, who knows where. She spent the last few days brooding around the house, and Erin definitely took notice.

“What is going on babe?” Erin asked that night when they were cuddled in bed. “You have been kind of just going through the motions these last few days.”

“I’m just bummed that you will be leaving soon. We are together everyday. It’s going to be weird to not see you everyday.”

“Hey, we will still talk all the time. We will call and Skype every night.”

“I know,” Ella said as she cuddled further into the keeper, “but it isn’t the same. I won’t be able to just cuddle up with you when I’ve had a bad day.” Then Ella smirked a bit, “And don’t even get me started on how much I’m going to miss Max!”

Erin laughed at the forwards joking, but she brought it back to a more serious conversation. She needed Ell to know that the distance was going to have no effect on them; they could do it no problem. “We won’t go the entire time without seeing each other, you know that right? We will get to see each other during the off season, we will make it happen.”

“But you’re in residency for almost the entire time. I’m not really allowed to just come up there with you guys.”

“How do you know?” Erin asked cheekily, she already had some off-season plans in mind. “Canada isn’t like the U.S. we are allowed visitors and stuff sometimes. I, um, I already talked to John a bit and he said after the first month visitors are allowed to start coming up. So basically after out Christmas break that we get you can come up if you want. We get roughly two weeks for visitors, they can either be like all at once or spread out.”

Ella smiled up at the keeper. “Sounds like you already kind of have a plan for this. When will I be coming to see you?”

Erin blushed slightly. “If you wanted to, I was…um I was thinking that maybe after Christmas you could come up for like the first part of the month for a week or so, then…um,” she started stuttering, “If…if you wanted, you could come back up in February, for, uh, Valentines Day.”

Ella looked up at the keeper lovingly; of course she would want to go up there for their first Valentines Day together. “That sounds like the best plan ever. I can’t wait!”

“We will probably have spend Christmas apart, but I know you want to be with your family for it, and I don’t really get enough time to make a trip to Chicago, it would have basically been an overnight trip then I would have to head back, and I didn’t really know if you wanted to tell your family, if you want to tell them that is, with me there or not.”

Ella caught the slight hesitation when telling her family was brought up and she knew that that hesitation stemmed from the fact the Melissa made them keep their relationship a secret for almost a year. She wanted to set the keeper straight and let her know that this wasn’t going to be like her last relationship. “I plan on telling everyone at Thanksgiving actually. Well I’ll probably tell my brother and sisters sooner than that, but I’ll probably tell my whole family then. I want them to know why I’ve been so happy lately.”

Erin was concerned, she couldn’t really shake some of the scars from her relationship with Mel. “Are you sure you want to do that? I mean only a couple years ago you were 100% against our type of relationship. I don’t want your family, if they share the views you used to have, to judge you or anything.”

“Baby, I will be fine. They are my family, I think that most of them will understand, and if they don’t I’ll ignore them. I’m proud to be with you, I’m not going to let fear get in the way of telling my family.”

Erin smiled down at the forward and pulled the blanket tighter around them. “Okay. That sounds like a good plan, but if you decide you don’t want to tell them that is 100% okay. It’s good in theory, but I’m going to warn you, when it comes time to do it, it is going to be scary, so if you decide to change your mind it’s okay.”

“Hey,” Ella said as she rolled on top of the keeper so she could look her in the eyes, “I’m not changing my mind. I’m going to tell them. Plus, they are going to be asking anyway if ‘there’s anyone special,’ because they always do.”

“Okay then, sounds like you have your mind made up. Let’s get some sleep now though. Tomorrow is our last full day together. Goodnight babe, I love you.”

Ella really wanted to say it back, but she was still a bit unsure if now was the right time or not. It was still really confusing trying to figure out all of the intense feeling she had, but she was pretty confident she was in love with the keeper; she just needed to figure out how to tell her. “Goodnight baby.”

 

They spent the next day the only way they saw fit; laying on the couch cuddling all day. Ella knew that the first thing to fade would be the feeling of being completely wrapped up in the keeper’s arms; it was her favorite place to be. Once that thought crossed her mind, she leaned up and kissed the keeper.

Erin smiled as they pulled apart. “What was that for? Not that you need an excuse or anything.”

“Nothing, I just love you.”

“I love you too.” Erin said, not realizing this was Ella’s first time saying those words.

Ella just waited with a smile on her face until the keeper comprehended what just happened.

Erin’s head snapped down to look at Ella who was just laughing at the keeper. “You...you said, you…really?”

Ella nodded shyly, “Yea, I love you.”

Erin leaned down and kissed the forward with everything she had.

Ella, on the other hand, felt that kiss resonate with her. Although Ella had kissed people before, her lips never felt attached to another person’s like they did with Erin’s in this moment. She doesn’t think her lips have separated a single time from Erin’s. She has kissed people’s lips with her lips, but she has never kissed a _person_ with her person. She had never felt anyone kiss her with their entire being like Erin was. She was completely surrounded with the sense of the keeper. No one she had ever been with had ever had this effect on her, her body felt electric at every single point that she was touching the keeper. It was almost like someone had taken her senses and kicked them into overdrive.

“Holy shit,” Ella whispered as they pulled apart.

“Yea.” The keeper replied. “Damn. How the hell am I supposed to leave tomorrow now?!”

Ella giggled at the keeper “It should persuade you to not.”

“Baaaaabe.” Erin whined, “You can’t do that. It’s already going to be hard enough to not see you for an entire month.” She finished as she pulled Ella even closer.

“How about we go finish the movie in bed?”

“Well that sounds promising.” Erin said with a wink, and then she realized what she said and immediately started backtracking when she noticed Ella’s face flush. “No, no I didn’t mean it like that, well I did, but I was just teasing, I know you aren’t ready for that yet, and there is no rush for it, I’m sorry babe. Me and my big mouth.”

Ella stood up and offered her hand to the keeper. “It’s okay. I know you would never pressure me into that. And, um, I…ugh…I mean I’ve uh, thought about it…kind of and I think that…maybe soon ish, but I just…”

“El, hey, no worries. I’m just going to follow your lead. Come here and cuddle now though. We can even let Max up on the bed.”

Ella smiled and clapped to get Max’s attention. “Come here buddy! Mommy is letting you get in the bed since you have to leave tomorrow.”

Erin just sat against the headboard and watched as her boy happily jumped on Ella and started attacking her face with kisses. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. Save some love for me!”

“Aww,” Ella said as she picked up Max so their faces were level, “I think your mommy is jealous. Should we give her some love?”

Erin just sat there with a pout on her face until Ella leaned in and gave her a kiss and Max started licking the side of her face.

“All better?” Ella asked.

“Yes, thank you,” the keeper said with a smile.

Erin was still sitting up against the headboard so Ella shuffled down a bit so she could rest her head on the keeper’s chest. Max found his place on their laps and settled in as well. Nothing was as perfect as this moment in Erin’s mind, until Ella spoke, “I love you.”

Now it was perfect.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a cheesy chapter, but the next couple are going to be good, I just needed to pass some time in the fic :)

When they woke up the next morning neither of them wanted the inevitable to happen, Ella wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the keeper. Most of Erin’s things had been sent back to Canada already so there wasn’t a lot to do before they had to head to the airport. Erin booked her flight back a little later in the day on purpose so that she could have one last lazy morning around the apartment with Ella.

“Good morning baby,” Erin sleepily said as she felt the forward start to stir.

Ella rolled her head into the keeper’s neck and mumbled out something causing Erin to laugh, “What did you say? You’re mumbling.”

“I said it’s not a good morning because you have to leave today.”

“Aw, babe,” Erin chuckled, “Don’t think like that. We have to make the most of our time today.”

Ella rolled fully on top of the keeper with a smile. “Can we just stay like this until you have to go?”

The keeper brought her hands up and wrapped them around Ella to keep her in place. “I would love that,” she finished with a kiss.

The forward however, thought she pulled away far too soon so she reconnected their lips. In the past few days Ella had gotten much more confident with her kisses and touches and it was driving Erin absolutely mad. They had already talked about it, and Erin had told Ella that she could do whatever she felt comfortable doing, so that meant that if the forward was feeling confident, the boundaries started being pushed a bit more.

Ella’s hands were currently dragging up and down the keeper’s sides, with the occasional light scratch. It wasn’t hard enough to leave marks, but it definitely gave the keeper goosebumps.

Erin’s hands had found the exposed skin on the forward’s lower back and started lightly ghosting her fingers over it causing Ella to shudder against her. Normally that was something that would happen and then Ella would pull away, but instead she slid her hands under the keeper’s shirt.

Erin smiled at the newfound confidence of her girlfriend, and continued running her hands along Ella’s spine. If she wasn’t going to pull away, the keeper was going to keep going until Ella told her to stop.

They continued their make out session for a little while longer, both of their hands roaming around new territory, before Erin decided to push the boundaries a little bit further than she had before. She knew that if it made Ella uncomfortable that the forward would let her know that and that is where they would stop. The keeper was getting ready to see how Ella would respond if her hands went a little below the waistband of the back of her shorts, when Ella surprised her by tugging the keeper’s own shirt over her head.

That action however brought Ella out of the daze she was in because she pulled away and buried her face in the keeper’s neck, “Shit, I didn’t mean to, well I mean I kind of did, but I wasn’t really thinking and…”

Erin promptly shut her up with another kiss. “Ella, we talked about this. I know you aren’t ready to go all the way, god that sounded like I was 20 again, but if you are comfortable we me laying here like this then that is more than okay with me. I told you, I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make you feel more comfortable.” As she was speaking Erin took the forward’s hands in her own and gently started running them across her stomach and sides. “If you want me to lay like this and kind of let you explore then that is perfectly fine with me. If you want me to put my shirt back on because this is a little too much then that is fine too. We still have about an hour before we have to start getting ready to leave, so it’s your call.”

Ella hesitantly brought her hand up again to rest on the keeper’s stomach. After a minute or two she started gently moving it around as they started kissing again.

Once she got a little more comfortable Erin pulled away and spoke up once more, “Do you want to join me in this attire?” she said gesturing to her lack of shirt, “Or would you feel more comfortable how we are now?”

Ella timidly nodded her head. She wanted to try and push herself out of her comfort zone a little bit more.

“Can I?” Erin asked shyly.

Ella nodded once more as she felt the keeper side her hands to the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing and gently lifted it over her head. The forward sort of curled into herself, even though Erin had seen her in even less in the locker room. This was an intimate space and it made Ella slightly self conscious about the imperfections she believed she had about her body.

Erin could tell that her mind went to a place of self-doubt, so she kissed the forward soundly on the lips to rid those thoughts from her mind. “You are so beautiful.”

“You know,” Ella stated, turning away with a blush as she spoke, “I’m actually starting to believe that.”

Erin was baffled at Ella’s admission. How could someone such as the forward not realize how beautiful she was? “How could you…”

Ella cut off the keeper with a laugh and a kiss. “No not like that. Like I look down and see the bruises and scars and stuff. It’s just, I know you see them too, but you don’t care about them, so I guess I’m learning to not care about them either.”

Erin smiled as she understood what the forward meant. “I love everything about you. All those marks have stories behind them that I am eager to learn about. I wish we had time to just lay here in bed so you could tell me how you got some of these scars.”

Ella smiled and leaned up to kiss the forward. “Well now you have something to look forward to when I come up in January.”

Erin rolled them over so that she could rest on top of the forward and burry her head in the crook of Ella’s neck. “That is so far away though,” she mumbled into her neck.

“I’m going to miss this.”

Erin raised her head, “This whole cuddling in our sports bras? Because to my knowledge this is a new thing we do,” she said teasingly.

“Shut up,” she said as pushed the keeper off of her,

“You are totally ruining the moment.”

“Awww babe! I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” Erin said as she peppered the side of Ella’s face with kisses.

“Stop!” Ella laughed out when Erin started tickling her sides as well. “Babe!”

Erin didn’t let up and Ella started squirming around. “I can’t breathe! Erin! Please!” “Say that I’m better than you! That you can’t resist my charm!”

“Fine, fine! You win, you’re better and I can’t resist you!”

Erin pulled away and smiled at the forward. “Good to know, glad you agree with me.” The keeper reached over and set and alarm on her phone for 30 minutes later before pulling Ella back on top of her.

“What did you set an alarm for?”

“We have 30 minutes before we have to get up and start heading out. I plan on spending the entire time here with you cuddled up.”

They spent the 30 minutes talking about whatever subject would pop into their heads. Currently Ella was telling a story about Cambria and she was absentmindedly playing with the keeper’s hand, letting their fingers dance around each other’s.

“They ask about you still. I think they like you more than me,” she pouted.

“I’m sure that is not true. Maybe we could Skype with them when you come up in January since I won’t be able to come down and see them during residency. I miss them too.”

Ella smiled, it was important to her that whomever she was dating loved her nieces just as much as she and it was very clear that Erin did. “I think that they will absolutely love that idea. I’ll tell them at Christmas.”

After a bit of a silence Ella spoke up again, “Did you ever think that we would be making plans for Christmas, and the following months, when the season started?”

Erin shyly smiled before admitting, “I was hoping so.”

“Really?”

“Well I mean it wasn’t in a strong romantic sense until about halfway through the season. I was just hoping you would want to come up to see Carm and I at some point.”

Ella smirked up at the keeper, “So there was always a bit of a romantic feeling then hmm?”

“Shut up.”

“Never.” Ella replied as she kissed her keeper. The kiss ended up being cut much shorter than either girl would have liked when Erin’s alarm went off. Both of them let out a groan and reluctantly separated from each other.

“I don’t want it to be time to go.” Ella said.

“I don’t either babe,” Erin replied as she got out of bed and pulled Ella up along with her, “but I already booked the last possible flight I had to. I don’t think my family would be thrilled to hear that I’m not at the airport for them to pick up after driving 3 hours to come and get me.”

Ella slightly hesitated; she had forgotten that Erin had planned the week with her family before residency. Would she tell her family about them? “Are, um, you going to tell them?”

“Is it okay if I do? I won’t though if you aren’t ready for me to.”

Ella thought for a moment, sure she wasn’t ready to tell her own family just yet, she needed to work up to that to tell them at Thanksgiving, but she didn’t want Erin to have to hide from her own family again. “You can tell them. I want you to. But you have to call me after and let me know what they said okay?”

“You have yourself a deal,” she sealed it with a kiss. “Now we have to head out though.”

They held hands the entire ride to the airport while Erin sang along to the radio, then held hands all the way up until security would have to separate them. The forward had done a really good job of keeping her emotions in check up until this point, but a few tears were starting to fall.

“Hey, hey,” Erin said as she pulled her into a hug, “It will go by faster than you know it. Go enjoy your time in Colorado with Becky, then come home for Christmas, and before you know it you will be on your way up to see me.”

Ella just tightened her hold on the keeper and mumbled into her neck, “I love you.” “I love you more. I’ll call you when I land okay?”

Ella pulled away and nodded as the keeper reached up and wiped her tears away.

Erin leaned down for one more kiss before making her way into the security area. She kept her eyes locked with Ella’s until it was impossible, and once it was, the forward’s phone went off with a snapchat notification. She opened it and laughed at the kissy face the keeper had made, and also at the arrow she drew to the man behind her looking at her like she was crazy. She sent back an equally cheesy face and drew a heart in the corner. They sent a few more back and forth before Erin sent one with a stern look and the caption ‘you should head home,’ so Ella sent a video of her shaking her head ‘don’t mind ‘waiting’ with you.’ When Erin’s flight was called she sent one last video to the forward. “Miss you already. I’ll call you when I land. I love you so much.”

Ella just smiled to herself. She knew that the keeper probably had her phone off already, but she sent her another one anyway. “Miss you and Max more! Love you baby.”

 

When Ella got back to the apartment she took a moment to look around at all the emptiness. Most of her things were already back at her parents place for the off season, and she had a couple bags packed for when she left for Colorado, so the place just felt empty. However, when she was looking around her eye caught a note on the counter.

_Hey baby, I’m probably still on the plane, but know that I’m missing you so, so much. I know as soon as I get to Max he will be whining for you to cuddle him. I left you some, hmm, gifts I guess, in your closet. They are at the bottom in your training bag (your clean one, not the smelly one, you should really clean that one out.) I also might have taken a couple of your cut offs, but don’t worry, I think you will find that I made it even. I know we have a while, but I can’t wait to see you and hold you in my arms again. I’ll talk to you as soon as I land. I love you so much baby. Your keeper xoxo._

Ella finished the note and quickly made her way into her room to look in her bag.

She smiled as she pulled out each item Erin had left for her. There was an oversized Canada hoodie, a few Penn State items, a couple tanks, and two beanies. Next she pulled out a picture Erin must have taken a couple weeks ago. It was a picture of them cuddled on the couch; Ella was asleep on top of her and had Max cuddled with them. Finally she pulled out another note, check the smelly bag. Ella laughed but did as the note said and pulled out her ‘smelly bag.’ She had a puzzled look on her face when she found the bag empty, so she flipped it upside down. When yet another note fell out she opened it _WASH THE DAMN BAG IT’S AWFUL_.

Ella laughed and sent the keeper a text that she knew she wouldn’t see for a couple more hours “I will wash the bag later! I love everything else. You are too good to me. Missing you and can’t wait to hear your voice.”

After she sent the text she put on the hoodie Erin left her and cuddled up in bed for a nap, but not before making sure her phone’s volume was turned up so that when Erin called it would wake her up.

About an hour into her nap ‘Stay’ started playing out and pulled Ella out of her nap. “Hey baby. How was your flight?”

“It wasn’t too bad. There was this really cute little boy sitting in front of me so we chatted a bit. You sound like you just woke up, were you napping?”

“Yea, I was. But I wanted to wake up for you. Are you with your family?”

“Not yet. I’m waiting for my bags to come out. They are waiting for me at the arrivals gate so I’ll see them in a few minutes. I wanted to hear your voice though. I miss you already.”

“I miss you too. My new wardrobe pieces are helping me a little bit. What did you take from me?”

“Not as much as I left for you. I just took a couple cut offs and one of your hats. Can we Skype tonight? My bags just came out and I’m heading to find my family. I can tell you what they say about us tonight.”

Ella smiled, “Of course we can Skype. Is 9 o’clock okay?”

“Works perfectly babe. I see my sister so I’ll talk to you tonight. I love you.”

“Love you too. See you tonight.”

As soon as she hung up the phone her sister Megan was by her side crushing her in a hug.

“We missed you.”

“I missed you all too.”

Megan just smirked at her sister, “Yea, but you clearly missed someone more since you called them as soon as you landed. You got something to tell us?” she asked with an eyebrow quirk.

Erin’s and went to the back of her neck, her go to move when she was uncomfortable or embarrassed. “Um, yea actually I do.” That statement caught the attention of her parents and her other sister as well, so they all turned to her. “Um, okay then, I, um, I’m seeing someone,” the keeper said as a smile crept onto her face.

“Oooh do we know this someone?” Cara asked.

“Um, maybe, actually I guess you do, or you at least know of her. It’s, erm, Ella.”

“Ella your teammate Ella?” her mom asked.

“Yea, that’s the one.”

Cara and Megan both squealed in happiness and gave Erin a hug; they were glad that their sister was finding happiness again after her previous broken heart. However, her parents were a little more reserved, they were there for the worst of her heartache. “How long have you been together?” her mother asked.

Erin smiled glad that they were taking interest, but still slightly shy about it. “Almost 3 months. That’s one of the reasons I chose to stay in the States for most of September. I didn’t think leaving right at the end of the season would be good for our relationship since we had just started dating in July, so we got an extra month added to the lease of the apartment the Red Stars gave us.”

“And she makes you happy?” her dad asked concerned; he didn’t want to see his little girl hurt again.

Erin smiled so brightly that her dad knew the answer before she had said anything. “Yea, she does. I’m so happy right now.”

“Well,” her dad stated, “I can’t wait until we get to meet her then.”

Erin smiled and gave her dad a hug. “I hope you love her just as much as I do.”

“I’m sure that we will. Now let’s head home, you have a niece and a nephew that are very anxious to see you.”

Erin spent the ride back split between talking about her time in Chicago and texting Ella. Everyone in the car would just roll their eyes when Erin’s phone notified her, but she was happy that they were giving her a hard time, to them that meant that they approved.

 

When she walked in the door she was met with even more family, apparently they had a little bit of a welcome home party planned. The keeper smiled at everyone and gave hugs all around. She caught up with the two little ones for a while before she noticed the time. She and Ella decided to Skype at 9 and it was almost time, she knew that she could text the forward and let her know that her family had done this, but she really wanted to talk to her girl so she excused herself for a little bit. Just as she had pulled her laptop out of her bag her notification rang out.

“Hi baby.” Erin said as Ella’s face lit up the screen.

“Hey, how’s home?”

“Pretty good. My family threw me a little surprise party so that is fun.”

“Are they all still there?” Ella asked and then waited until she saw Erin sheepishly nod. “Babe, go hang out with your family, you haven’t seen them in months!”

“I know, but they are all here for the weekend and I told you we would talk at 9.”

Ella gave the keeper a stern look.“You know that you could’ve texted me and pushed it back.”

Erin just looked down sheepishly. “I know, but I wanted to talk to you. I miss you.”

“I miss you too, and Max. I keep expecting to hear his paws on the hardwood and it’s kinda sad.”

“Max misses you too. He went wandering around looking for you and came back with a sad little puppy face. Thankfully Malcolm and Lily are distracting him.”

“Hey!” a tiny voice said from the hallway, “that’s me!”

Ella looked at the keeper questioningly, but Erin just got up and went over to her door. “What are you doing bud?”

“I was looking for you. I want to play with you.”

“Erin! Go play with your nephew!” Ella shouted from the computer.

Erin rolled her eyes, but she scooped up Malcolm and sat him in her lap on the bed. “Hey buddy, you remember how early you asked me why I was smiling a lot when I looked at my phone?”

Malcolm nodded.

“Well,” Erin continued, “I told you it was because I had someone really special in my life right?”

Again the little boy nodded.

“This is her; Malcolm, can you say hi to Ella?”

He smiled and waved shyly as he snuggled into Erin.

“Hi Malcolm. Your aunt has told me a lot about you.”

“She has?”

“Of course she has! She talks about you all the time!“

Malcolm looked up to his favorite aunt “You do?”

Erin just hugged him tighter. “Of course I do! You’re my little man! I’m so proud of you. I love to tell people about all the cool stuff you do.”

“Really?!” he asked excitedly.

“Yea.”

“How is Ella really special? Is she your bestest friend?” he asked innocently.

“Sort of. She is my best friend, but she is also my girlfriend.”

“Like that other girl that was on the Canada team with you that made you sad?”

Erin marveled at the concern the little boy held for her. “Not like that buddy. She won’t make me sad.”

Malcolm turned to the screen to look at Ella. “You’re not going to make my aunt Erin sad are you?” he asked in an adorable serious voice.

“Absolutely not. I don’t ever want to make her sad. I hope I can keep making her really happy.” Ella leaned closer to the screen to give the illusion that she was telling the boy a secret. “I love her a lot, I would never want to make her sad.”

“You love her huh?” he asked, trying to be tough.

“I do. Very much.”

“Well,” he said as he pointed to himself, “I’m in charge of making sure she doesn’t get sad again so you have to pass my test.”

Erin just looked like she had no idea this was going to happen so Ella decided to just roll with is. “Okay sir. What kind of test is it?”

Malcolm looked like he was very pleased with the fact that Ella called him sir. “Well you have to be here. It won’t work like this. When are you going to come visit?”

Erin leaned down to intervene. “It’s kind of hard buddy. You know how you couldn’t come visit me because it was really far? Well Ella still lives there so now that I’m back it’s very far away so she can’t come up until after Christmas.”

“Hmmm. Well I guess we will have to wait until then.”

Erin just laughed a little bit at her nephew. “Why don’t you go find your sister and Maxwell and I’ll be down in like five minutes okay bud?”

“Okie dokie. Bye, bye Ella.”

“I hope I get to meet you soon Mr. Malcolm.”

Erin smiled at her girl and kissed Malcolm’s cheek as she shuffled him from the room. “Sorry about him. I didn’t think he would do that.”

“It’s okay, he was so cute. Wanting to be all tough and protect his aunt Erin. That is adorable. I just hope I can pass his test,” she finished with a wink.

“I’m sure you will babe, he’s five it can’t be too hard.”

Ella shrugged. “Still, he is too cute, you should get back to playing with him. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Okay. I love and miss you.”

“Love and miss you more. Now get back to that little cutie.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll talk to you soon! Oh wait! I told my family at the airport about us.”

“Yea? How…um…how did they react?”

Erin smiled at the forward. “They can’t wait to meet you babe. They are just so happy that I’m happy again. And it’s all thanks to you.”

“I’m glad they reacted well. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”

“You will soon baby. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye babe.”

Erin blew a kiss at the screen as Ella was signing off so she was left with the frame on her smile as they both logged off.

 

Later that night Ella was woken up by her phone chiming with a text. She groggily opened the message with a smile. Erin and Max were cuddled in bed, the keeper had the pup resting on her chest, and she captioned it saying how much they missed the forward. Ella immediately set it as her lock screen and fell back to sleep with a smile on her face.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was meant to be a combo of Thanksgiving and Christmas but I kind of got carried away so I'm making the Christmas one a separate one. It was either split it up or it would have probably been another 2 weeks before I had gotten an update out. Thank for all the love with this. If you have ideas of something you want to see let me know in the comments :)

When Thanksgiving rolled around Ella was excited but nervous. She really wanted to tell her family about Erin, but she was also a little apprehensive about it, she decided to start with her twin, if anyone knew her best it was Liza. She decided to tell her the day before so that if her reaction was positive she would have someone to go to if some of the other family wasn’t so welcoming to the news. 

“Hey Liza? You got a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Um…I uh, I’m going to tell everyone something tomorrow, but, erm, I wanted to tell you first incase it doesn’t go too well tomorrow, I mean it might not go well now, but I just thought that maybe…”

“Hey, shut up and tell me what is going on.”

Ella smiled at her sister, “I’m, uh, not really going to be around for much of the off season.”

“We already knew that,” Liza stated, “You will pretty much be in Colorado with Becky and Nikki.”

“I know that, but I meant during like time we take off. Like there is a week in January and right around, erm, valentines day where we already have plans to take some time to go back home, but um, I’m probably not going to come back here until late February.”

Liza looked at her twin, she could kind of tell where this was going, but she wasn’t exactly sure. “You’re going to see someone aren’t you?”

Ella shyly nodded and there was a faint blush to her cheeks, “Yea.”

Liza leaned over and gave her sister a hug and a smile. “Well, are you going to tell me about him or not?” she asked eagerly. 

Ella just continued to stare at the ground, it was now or never though so she took a deep breath before whispering, “Her.”

Liza could tell that that was one of the hardest things that her sister had probably done, so she wanted to ease her worries, they could talk about how she came about finding a ‘her’ later. “Okay well then are you going to tell me about her then?”

Ella looked up in shock; she didn’t think Liza would play off that news so easily so she started stuttering to try and form a response. 

“Hey, you’re my sister; I love you no matter what okay?” she waited for Ella to nod before she continued, “Now, I’m serious tell me about this girl. I have to approve you know.”

Ella smiled and leaned into her sister. “It’s, um, Erin. The keeper on the team, you’ve met her briefly a couple of times I think.”

“Yea? She seemed really great. I’ve seen her interacting with the fans a lot at games. You two been together long?”

The forward couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off of her face now that she knew her sister was okay with her dating a woman. “It will be 3 months next week.”

Liza gave her sister an encouraging smile, “Well… are you going to talk about her or not?! This is your chance to brag on her!”

Ella just shrugged and blushed; she didn’t know where she should start with the amazing keeper. “Well, erm, she has really been great. I never thought I could fall for another girl, but here I am.” Ella had started to fidget with her phone as she was talking and accidentally hit a button so her lock screen picture showed up. It was the picture Erin had sent a few nights ago with her and Max cuddled up in bed. 

Liza was quick to grab the phone out of her hand to stare at the picture. “Okay this is ridiculously adorable.” She knew the password to Ella’s phone, and it was also her job to tease her as much as she could, so she went right for her photos. All of Ella’s recent pictures, save for the ones she had taken with her family in the last 2 days, had Erin, Max, or all 3 of them. You could clearly see how smitten the keeper was with Ella, and she mirrored that look right back at Erin.

“You two are so adorable. Seriously Ella, you got a good one. She loves you a lot, that much is clear.” 

“Yea, I know.”

“She’s told you that already? Seems a little quick,” she said cautiously; she didn’t want to offend Ella, she just wanted her be careful.

Ella shook her head and smiled, “She told me pretty quickly after we were together. She had been holding in her feelings for me since the beginning of the season pretty much.”

“Wow, really?”

Ella nodded shyly, “Yea, it was actually the night after our first date. I couldn’t fall asleep so I went to her room and she was still awake too. She tried to get me to go to sleep because she knew that I didn’t do well with planes, so I asked how she noticed that because no one else had noticed on the team. She said that you notice things about the people you are in love with.”

“Awww!! That is so cute! Did it freak you out at all when she told you that quickly?”

Ella just shook her head, “I thought it would have, but it just made me really happy.”

Liza looked over at her sister seriously, “You love her don’t you?” she asked already suspecting the answer. 

Ella nodded with a smile on her face. “I told her the day before she boarded her flight back home. I just, I don’t know how to explain it. Everything is different with her.”

“Can I ask you something without you getting offended?”

Ella figured she would probably be hearing some hard things once she started sharing this news, so she figured this would be a comment to ease into some of the things she might hear. “Yea, sure.”

“Are you gay?”

Ella let out a breath of relief, that wasn’t what she was expecting. “Honestly I don’t know. I never thought about other girls before Erin came along. I think it is not so much about me finding out I am gay, I think it’s just Erin. Does that make sense?”

Liza nodded. “Yea, I think I get what you mean. I’m really glad you are happy sis, and thank you for feeling like you could share that with me. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you would need to hide something like this.”

Ella just hugged her sister. “Thank you. I hope everyone else understands this as much as you did.” 

“If they don’t then just send them to me. I’ll set them straight.”

They continued to talk for a bit more; Liza wanted to know all she could about the girl that had stolen her sister’s heart, and Ella was more than willing to share with her. They talked for about an hour and a half before Ella’s phone started to ring. A smile broke out on her face and Liza immediately knew that it must be Erin. 

“Hey babe.” Ella said, and then blushed when she remembered Liza was still right there. 

“Hey baby. I miss you. How was your day?”

“I miss you more. It was a good day. I, uh, I told Liza.”

“Yea?” Erin asked. “How did it go? Was she okay with it? Are you okay?”

“Babe,” she said with a laugh, “It went fine, great actually. I feel a lot better now that someone knows, and she is really happy for us.”

“I’m so proud of you baby. It takes a lot of courage to do that. I’m very happy that it went well. Make sure you tell her that I really, really appreciate her being so great to you about it.”

Ella smiled, “You can tell her right now if you want, she is sitting here making kissy faces at us.”

“I…uh…yea, yea I’d like that.”

Ella smiled and handed the phone over to her sister. “She wants to thank you.”

“Hey Erin.”

The keeper sounded nervous as she spoke which made Liza smile; this girl obviously cared for her sister. “Hey…um…just thanks for being so open to this. I know what it is like to be on the end where it isn’t so great, and I really hope Ella doesn’t have to experience that, so I really appreciate you being in her corner for this.”

Liza smiled at the sincerity in the keeper’s voice. “My sister loves you, that much is clear, and I can already tell that you love her too. That is all I need to know, and that is all I care about. As long as you don’t hurt her you are okay in my book.”

Erin breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Really, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Ella already told me that she would be going up there for your residency, but I look forward to properly meeting you.”

“You too Liza.”

She smiled and looked over at Ella. The forward looked like she was about to burst. “Your girlfriend is getting antsy so I’ll let you get back to her.”

Erin let out a laugh, “Thanks.”

Liza handed the phone back and left the room to give them some more privacy. 

“So, I’m going to tell everyone else tomorrow. I hope that they have the same reaction that Liza had, but I’m sure that is not going to happen.”

“You don’t know that babe. Your family loves you. Even if it isn’t great at the beginning, I’m sure that they will come around.”

“Yea I hope so,” Ella said as she yawned.

Erin smiled. “Why don’t you head to bed, you’ve got a big day tomorrow. Whatever happens tomorrow just know that I love you so, so much, and I’m so proud of you for being courageous in telling them. You can call me whenever you want to talk, I’ve got the day off, so I’ll be anxious to hear how it goes.”

Ella smiled as she curled up in bed. “Thank you baby. I love you too, and I promise that I will call and let you know.” She didn’t want to let the keeper know just how nervous she was, but she did need to get some sleep for tomorrow so she made a request to the keeper, “Can you…uh…will you keep talking to me so I can, erm, fall asleep?”

“Absolutely. I would love to.”

The keeper just talked nonsense for a little while as she heard Ella’s breathing slow down, so then she started to sing. Ella was out like a light within minutes of hearing the soft melody the keeper was singing.

 

The next day came around and Ella was extremely nervous. She knew that Liza would have her back, and she knew that if she did end up chickening out that Erin was okay with it. However, she wanted to make her girlfriend proud and she wanted her family to see how happy she was. 

She could always count on the little ones to cheer her up, so she made her way over to Seredy and her nieces. After giving her sister a hug she greeted the 3 and 4 year old very enthusiastically; Anaiah and Cambria were very happy to see their aunt Ella. 

After playing with them a little bit she decided that Seredy would be the next person she told. However, her plan was interrupted by her favorite 3 year old. 

“Aunty Ella?” Cambria asked as she climbed up on Ella’s lap, “When will we get to see Erin again? I miss her.”

Ella gave her a hug. “She misses you too bug, she was just telling me that last night when I called her. Do you think we should send her a picture?”

Cambria nodded happily. “Yes!”

Ella smiled and opened her camera. They took a few silly pictures and Ella quickly made them into a collage to send to the keeper. Then she opened snapchat. 

“How about we tell her happy Thanksgiving?”

Once again Cambria nodded enthusiastically and clapped her hands together.

“Okay, when I say go, we will say, ‘Happy Thanksgiving, we miss you.’ Does that sound like a good idea munchkin?”

“YES!”

Ella laughed and hit the button to record then said ‘go.’ They relayed their message, and Ella snuck in a wink at the end. She hoped that the keeper would reply soon because Cambria was getting antsy. Meanwhile Seredy just looked on with a smile. When Ella looked up and caught her gaze, she knew that her sister would approve, she called it before they even were together when they went over to babysit. 

Seredy raised her eyebrow as if to ask ‘are you together yet?’ so Ella just shyly nodded. Seredy leaned over with a big smile on her face to hug her little sister. “I’m so happy for you two. I knew there was something special there.”

“I am too sis.” 

Ella’s phone lit up with a notification, she noticed it was a snapchat from Erin so she called Cambria back over. By the time the 3 year old had made her way back over Ella noticed she had 3 snapchats from the keeper. She rolled her eyes but tapped her screen to view them nonetheless. 

The first one started out with Erin waving. “Hey bug! I miss you and your sister so much!” and then blowing an obnoxious amount of kisses. Then next one consisted of Erin telling Cambria that she was working on special Christmas presents for them, but she would have to wait a little while to get them because she would give them to Ella when she came up to visit in January. The last one was just a picture of Erin making half a heart with her hand, and a drawn in second half with the caption ‘Love you.’ 

“Aunty Ella?”

“Yea cutie?”

“Do you love Erin?”

Ella smiled down at the little girl. “I do, very much. Erin is my best friend.”

Cambria just shook her head. “No like love love, like mommy and daddy love each other. Do you and Erin love each other like that?”

Ella looked over at Seredy to get permission, so when her sister nodded she looked back down at Cambria. “Yea, I do. What do you think about that?”

Cambria smiled and hugged her aunt. “I like that a lot!”

“Yea? You don’t care that I’m a girl and Erin is a girl too? Some people don’t like that.”

Cambria shrugged, “Those people are silly then. Do you want to marry her?”

Ella started stuttering, but then recovered because why not tell the three year old. “I do want to marry her someday. I really love her a whole lot. She makes me really, really happy.”

“Can she be Aunty Erin?”

Ella’s smile doubled in size. “I’m sure she would absolutely love that baby.”

“YAY! I’m going to go tell sissy!”

Cambria ran off and Ella let out a watery laugh. She hadn’t realized that the simple talk she just had made her tear up, but it did. She couldn’t help it, she pulled out her phone and shot off a quick text to the keeper, ‘I love you so much baby <3’ 

Seredy just leaned over for another hug before getting up and talking to some more of the family. 

 

As the night went on Ella got the question ‘are you seeing anyone yet?’ from almost everyone in her family. She replied with yes every time, but she didn’t say it was a woman unless prompted. If they just replied they were happy for her then she let it go, if they asked questions she answered them honestly. A few people were a bit taken aback, but got over it fairly quickly. Funnily enough her mom was the only person not to ask about her love life until the very end of the night when most of the family had left. 

“So sweetie, your brother was talking to Aunt Jill about you being in a relationship. How come you didn’t tell me?”

Ella just shrugged. “You didn’t ask.” She answered a bit cheekily. 

Her mom gave her a look that told her she had better give a real answer and quickly.

Ella looked down when she felt her cheeks start to heat up. “Because I wasn’t sure how you would react when I told you.”

“Oh honey, why would you think that? I’ve been waiting for you to find the right guy for a while now. I knew it would happen soon.”

Ella looked back up, she wasn’t going to be a chicken about this, “Because, it’s not with a guy, I fell in love with Erin, a woman.”

“Love? With…with a…a…woman?” Ella’s mom stuttered out shocked. 

Ella took her mother’s stuttering as a negative thing so she was ready to defend her life, her heart, and her choice. “Yea mom, a woman. A wonderful, funny, talented, gorgeous woman, and I know it’s not something you approve of, that lifestyle, but I can’t help it. I’m in love with her. Your opinion, if it’s negative, won’t make me change my mind about how I feel about her.”

Ella’s mom surprised her by fiercely pulling her daughter into a hug. She was taken aback once more when she felt tears.

“I’m so sorry. I was just shocked, I love you so much baby girl. I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t approve of your happiness.” Her mother pulled back slightly so she could look her daughter in the eyes. “Are you happy?”

Ella nodded; she even started to tear up herself. “I’m so happy mom.”

“Then that is all I care about okay?” She waited for Ella to nod before continuing. “I know how we raised you, but that doesn’t matter anymore. I’m going to need a little bit of time to get used to it, but ultimately as long as your happy and she treats you right that is all I care about.” 

“I love you mom.”

“Love you more baby girl.”

Their moment was interrupted when Ella’s phone rang out for FaceTime. She looked to her mom to see if they should continue their conversation or if she should answer. When her mother nodded she answered the call with a smile. “Hey there.”

“Hey my beautiful girl.” Erin said, and then she noticed the puffiness surrounding Ella’s eyes, “Have you been crying? What happened baby? Did someone say something when you told them about us?”

Ella laughed at the keeper’s concern, “Happy tears babe; I just told my mom. Everyone else approves though as well.”

Erin smiled brightly at her girl. “I’m so incredibly proud of you Ella. It takes a lot of courage to share something like this with the people you love most, and to open yourself up for judgment. You are absolutely amazing.”

“God,” Ella said as she wiped her eyes, “Now you’re going to make me cry.”

“Aw babe. I wish I could be there with you.”

Ella nodded and wiped her eyes, “I wish you were too, but I’ll see you soon; just a little bit longer.”

“5 more weeks babe, then I get you for a whole week.”

“I’m counting down babe.”

Ella had forgotten that her mom was still in the room so she looked over at her quickly. Her mom was smiling from ear to ear at her daughter.

“Hey babe? Can we Skype in a little while? I want to hang out with my mom for a bit.”

Erin smiled, “Of course! Go hang out with her, tell her I said hello.”

“I will, I love you.”

“Love you more.” 

Ella hung up and walked back over to her mom, “Do you want to watch a movie?”

She smiled at the fact that her daughter was willing to spend time with her, she knew though that Ella was using this as in invite to ask questions about her relationship with the keeper. They spent the next hour and a half reconnecting on a level that Ella was really grateful for. It took a little while for Ella’s mom to get comfortable asking questions about Erin and the relationship her daughter had with the keeper, but once she was she was asking anything and everything she could think of. It was a great night of bonding for both of them.

 

“Did you have fun with your mom?” Erin asked as Ella answered the Skype call.

“I did. We talked a lot. She said that is was going to take her a little bit to get used to it, but I think she is coming around pretty quickly. She kind of reminds me of when I would go Carm with questions, and then when I would talk with you.”

“I’m glad she is coming around baby. I am so proud of you for doing this today love.”  
Ella looked down bashfully, “You’ve said that already.”

“I know, but you are just so amazing, I want to just keep reminding you.”

“Thank you.” Ella said as she yawned. 

“Get some sleep baby, you had a big day.”

Ella shook her head, “I want to talk to you more.”

Erin just laughed at her girl. “Baby, you can barely keep your eyes open, want me to stay on and sing to you again?”

Ella nestled into her bed and adjusted her computer screen so she could still see Erin, “Yes please.”

Erin laughed and started singing Stay to the forward. 

She was out before the song was over.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit shorter than normal, but I promise it will be worth it for the next chapter!

Christmas had always been Ella’s favorite holiday, not because of the presents or anything, but because of all of the family that gathered. A lot of family would gather for Thanksgiving, but even more were around for Christmas. She made sure that she would have some time in the morning to Skype with Erin and open the presents they had shipped to each other, so when her alarm went off at 7am she shut it off with a smile on her face and opened her computer.

Erin’s image popped up with a massive smile and a light up headband of reindeer antlers. “Merry Christmas baby!”

Ella smiled a sleepy smile, “Good morning and merry Christmas to you too. I very much like your attire you have going on here, very festive of you.”

“Why thank you. I quite like them. Are you ready to open presents?!” 

Ella grinned and reached over to retrieve the package that had come in the mail a few days prior. “Absolutely!” 

They both got situated with their gifts ready in their laps. 

“Oh,” Erin said, “I got finished with Cambria and Anaiah’s early so I have them in yours as well. Make sure they get them yea?”

“Of course! They are going to be so excited that they get them earlier than they thought.”  
Erin smiled shyly on the screen, “Take pictures of them opening their presents?”

“Absolutely. Now stop stalling, I want to open my present from you!” Ella said excitedly. 

“Well what are you waiting for then? Go on.”

Ella clapped happily and started tearing open the wrapping paper of her present assuming Erin would be doing the same, but the keeper was just watching her girl captivated. “Babe! Open yours too!”

Erin just shook her head with a smile. “I want to watch you open yours.”

Ella blushed a bit, but continued to unwrap. When she tore all the paper off of her first present she was confused for a moment. It just looked like a tiny sketchbook. Erin was the artist in the relationship, why would she give her a sketchbook?

The keeper read the confusion on her face, so she spoke up, “Remember on our first date at the museum? I told you I would make you something you could take with you when you travel. Sorry it took so long but, um, that’s it. It’s a flipbook. Open it to the first page and flip the other pages really fast.”

Ella opened it and did as the keeper instructed. She watched in awe as the blank page at the beginning transformed into the process of a flower blooming. “This is amazing baby!” Ella said as she slowly flipped through a second time to see the process being done line by line. “This must have taken you a while.”

Erin just shrugged, because yea it did, but it was more than worth it to see the forward’s face light up at it. “You like it?”

“I love it! This is great baby. And I can take it with me when I go back to Colorado very easily. This is so gorgeous.”

Erin just smiled at her girl, “There is more in there too, it is probably under Cambria and Anaiah’s.” 

Ella set about finding her other gifts and pulled out two more wrapped presents. She opened the first and smiled at the neon green that poked out. She knew what it was right away and was so excited about it. The forward tore through the rest of the paper and held up the replica Canada keeper jersey. She turned it around to see the Mcleod #1 on the back, but let her jaw fall open when instead it read Masar #30. 

“I wasn’t sure if I should have done 3 for you or 30 for your dad. Is 30 okay?”

Ella was speechless, all she could seem to do was nod vigorously up and down. She could feel the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes at the keeper’s thoughtful gesture. “This is perfect. I really wish you were here right now so I could kiss you. I…um, with the Dash I was thinking about being 30, you know like for him, so, uh, yea, this is absolutely perfect. I really love this.”

Erin just smiled at her girl. “I wish I was there with you too baby, but I’m still happy that I at least get to see your face opening them.”

Ella smiled as she reached for her last gift. It was a small box, so Ella assumed correctly when she guessed it was some form of jewelry. When she opened the box she was once again rendered speechless, something that was now becoming clear to the forward that happened a lot when the keeper was involved. She let the necklace dangle and catch the light as she admired the thin simple silver chain that looped through a small silver heart. Then, upon closer inspection she noticed it was the one that the keeper always wore. “Erin…”

“I just… this sounds so cheesy, but you, you have my heart and I just wanted that to by symbolized in like an actual tangible thing.”

Ella said the only thing she could think of that would show her gratitude for the gift, “I love you.”

“Love you more. I would put it on for you if I was there.”

Just then Ella hear two pairs of little feet running to her room, and soon enough Anaiah and Cambria were hopping up on her bed; Erin got an idea. 

“Merry Christmas munchkins!” the keeper said as she waved to the two girls. “Your aunt has your presents for you, but I need you two cuties to do a really important favor for me. Can you help me?”

Anaiah nodded her head and then Cambria followed suit as they waited for their very important instructions. 

“I gave your Aunty a very important necklace, but I’m not there to help her put it on and make sure it is hooked really good and doesn’t fall off. Do you think you two can put it on for me?”

Ella was touched by the gesture and smiled as her nieces put the necklace on her, she would have to check in a little later and make sure that it was hooked correctly, but for now it she was content. “Do you two want to sit with me and watch Erin open her presents that we gave her?”

The girls nodded and sat in the forwards lap as Ella gave her a little nod to encourage her to start. She noticed two little presents that were wrapped, well, she could tell that the two little ones had wrapped them so she picked those out first. Ella nodded slyly to the flat one on the left so Erin assumed that meant to open that on first. 

The keeper chuckled as she opened the wrapped Christmas card. “They wanted to wrap the card,” Ella said with a shrug. 

Erin smiled at them before opening the card and reading it aloud. “Aunty Erin,” she said with a hitch in her breath, because that was enough of a present in itself to be accepted like that into Ella’s niece’s lives, “Merry Christmas we love you and miss you a lot, Love Anaiah and Cambria.” 

The keeper had to take a moment to collect herself after reading the card Ella noticed, but then smiled extremely wide and went to open the other present from her nieces. 

The girls had drawn pictures for Erin. Some of them were of them all together, some were just random animals, and some were little pictures about something that had happened that day. “These are beautiful munchkins! I’m going to hang them up all over my house. And I’m going to need help on where to put this one.” she said as she held up the one with the four of them, “Should I put it right by my bed, or should I hang it on the fridge?”

“THE FRIDGE!” both girls yelled, they knew that all of the important stuff went up there. 

“You got it! I’ll go hang it up after I’m done talking to you guys.”

“Babe, finish opening your presents! You still have mine.”

Erin laughed at the childlike qualities Ella was showing, but she continued on with the gift unwrapping. She opened the next gift, a gold watch, and her face lit up. She had mentioned one night that she didn’t have a ‘nice’ watch to wear when she had to dress up a bit more, and she was surprised that Ella remembered that little fact. “I love it, thank you baby.” 

“You’re welcome. I had remembered that you needed a nicer one, and I tired to find a black one so it would go with more, but none of them really seemed like your type and…”

“Shush. I love it, and thank you for remembering.” Erin said as she picked up another present. Ella had a bit of a shit-eating grin on her face so the keeper knew that this would be a good one; and she was right. She opened the box to find a neon orange studded dog collar and the keeper laughed out loud. “Babe this is great! Max will love it I’m sure.”

“I saw it and couldn’t resist. We need to have our boy representing our colors.”  
“Our boy?” Erin said with a smirk.

Ella started stuttering, but thankfully Erin stepped in again, “I’m just kidding babe, he is our boy. Now, I know these little munchkins are eager to go open presents, so I’ll let you go do that and we can talk later tonight.”

Ella shook her head, “Why don’t we let the girls open their presents from you so that you can watch them?”

“Yea, sure!”

Cambria and Anaiah smiled and cheered that they got to open some presents a little bit early, so Ella handed them each their designated gift. The girls opened their gifts to find cute picture frames, Princess themed for Cambria and a jungle themed one for Anaiah. Inside the frames Erin had painted beautiful landscapes. To go with Cambria’s princess theme the keeper had painted a castle scene on top of a mountain with ‘Princess Cambria’ waiving from the top tower. Anaiah was the ‘Jungle Princess’ inside a beautiful Amazon Rainforest scene. 

Ella was still blown away by the talent that the keeper held, and she couldn’t believe the amount of thought and work that Erin must have put into these paintings. “Girls, what do you say?” 

“Thank you Aunty Erin!”

“You’re very welcome munchkins,” she said with a smile; she didn’t think she would ever get tired of hearing them call her ‘aunty.’ 

“Why don’t you go show Momma your presents? I’ll be down in a minute and we can all open the rest of the gifts okay? Say bye to Erin.”

The little girls mimicked the keeper who was waving and blowing kisses. “Bye bye Aunty Erin! We love you!” 

“I love you too munchkins, and I miss you soooo much!”

Ella smiled as the girls blew one more kiss and then ran off to show off their presents. 

“God I miss them.”

Ella smiled lovingly at the keeper. “They miss you too. You are definitely going to have to come visit before the season starts.”

Erin just laughed. “It’s not like I need convincing babe. You know I would be there in a second if I could.”

“I know you would. I can’t wait until I see you next week. I still really wish I could have gotten a flight out earlier so I could be there for New Year’s. I really wanted to kiss you at midnight.”

“You’ll be here the day after so that’s good enough for me. We will have our own private party,” the keeper said with a suggestive grin. She then backtracked and started stuttering because saying something like that didn’t usually go over too well with the forward. 

“Promise?” Ella said to stop her stuttering with a shy smirk.

Erin just stopped and quirked her eyebrow up; that is not something Ella would normally say. “I…uh…yea, if your up to it.”

The conversation finally caught up to Ella and she looked away blushing. She knew that she needed to reply with something, she had been thinking about this for a little while now, but she didn’t really know how to voice it.

“Hey baby?” Erin asked to try and bring the forward back. “Ella? Can you please look at me?”

Ella reluctantly did as she was asked, but she was still blushing very heavily. 

“There’s my beautiful girl,” the keeper said. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ella whispered back. 

“Want to talk about that thing that just happened? Or do you want to wait until you are up here and we can talk about it in person?”

Ella was still flustered from the earlier part of their conversation, so she timidly just held up two fingers to indicate she wanted to wait until they were in person with each other to have that conversation.

“Okay, we can wait babe. Now, I believe you have two little munchkins waiting for you so they can open more presents, so, I will talk to you tonight okay? I love you baby, Merry Christmas.”

“Love you too, tell everyone I said Merry Christmas as well.”

“Will do” Erin said as she blew a kiss to Ella and then signed off.

Ella went downstairs with a smile on her face thinking about how in a week she would be back with her girl and they would be together for an entire week, which seemed like heaven after being apart for so long, however she still wasn’t sure how to have the conversation she had so boldly hinted at earlier. 

 

After opening presents and a day full of family, food, and festivities, Ella went back up to her room exhausted. She was going through the pictures that she had from the day and smiled at the one her sister took of her with her nieces inside of the box their new play set came. Ella posted it to instagram and not two minutes later a text from Erin came through, ‘You all are so precious.’ 

Ella smiled and texted the keeper back, ‘Thank you. I think I might fall asleep during our Skype date tonight though, they wore me out’

‘We can Skype in the morning? Or I’ll just stay on til you fall asleep like I normally do. Whatever you want to do babe.’

Ella got out her laptop and called Erin. “Hi babe. Did you have a good day?”

“I did. Malcolm and Lily loved their presents by the way. They said to make sure I told you thank you and that they can’t wait to meet you. Malcolm brought up his test again today, but I’m pretty sure that you will pass it no problem.”

“Oh! What is the test?”

Erin just laughed at the forward, “Top secret babe, but like I said don’t worry about it you will be fine.”

“If you say so,” Ella answered with a yawn. She snuggled into her bed and closed her eyes causing the keeper to laugh at her. 

“What?” the forward asked as she peeked open one eye.

Erin just shook her head and got her guitar out. “Nothing babe. Get some sleep, I love you.”

Ella yawned and the keeper could tell that she was almost already asleep. “Love you more, night night baby.”

Erin just started strumming random chords and humming along to them. She couldn’t wait until Ella would be there to fall asleep in her arms again. 

Once she was sure Ella was sound asleep she put her guitar away and walked over to the calendar she had put up on the wall. She took out her red sharpie and crossed off another day; she was now 7 away from the day she had marked with a princess crown signifying Ella’s arrival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Zoey and Erica for helping with the Christmas presents! Also you international people that messaged me on Tumblr letting me know you were staying awake, you better get some sleep after you finish reading! Also suggestions are always welcome so if you have something you want to see leave a comment! :)


	14. Chapter 14

Erin was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet scanning the crowd around her. Her eyes were rapidly scanning the faces of everyone that came out until finally her eyes met the ones she had been searching for. All the keeper wanted to do was run to Ella, wrap her in her arms, and kiss her, but she wasn’t sure if the forward would be okay with that level of PDA, so she just stood bouncing on her feet with a massive grin and waited for Ella to come to her.

Once the forward was close enough she dropped her bags and leapt up into Erin’s awaiting arms; clearly she didn’t care about PDA. Ella buried her face into the keeper’s neck and just let herself get lost in the embrace, she felt like she couldn’t be close enough to Erin. 

With Ella’s legs wrapped around her waist, Erin held on tight to the forward. “God I missed you so much.”

Ella just mumbled into her neck, but she figured it was along the lines of ‘I missed you too.’ 

They stood like that in the airport for almost five minutes before Erin noticed some people starting to stare at them. She nudged Ella slightly with her nose so that the forward would look up at her. When Ella looked up at her it didn’t matter to Erin how many people were staring; she leaned down and captured the forward’s lips in a long awaited kiss. 

When they broke the kiss they didn’t pull away too far, they kept their foreheads pressed together and their arms wrapped tightly around one another. 

“You’re here.” Erin whispered out.

“Yea, I’m here,” the forward responded. 

They stood like that in the middle of the airport for a few minutes, just smiling at each other and savoring the fact that after so long apart they were able to hold one another in their arms. 

“Want to head out? Or you want to just stand here in the airport?” the keeper asked smiling down at Ella.

The forward just smiled up at Erin, “Show me around Canada!”

The keeper laughed, grabbed Ella’s bag and hand, and then led her to the car. “Now since we are in the residency facilities you aren’t technically allowed to stay there, but I may have told a little fib to get them to let you stay with us though. Before you say anything though it is okay with John. You’re staying on the grounds with the team; you are just on a different floor.”

“Huh?”

Erin put the bags in her car and started explaining the situation as they made their way out of the airport parking lot. “Technically only teams using the facilities are allowed to stay there, not usually visitors, but since you are an athlete still I asked John if there was a way to go around that rule because I know you aren’t going to just hang out for a week, you are going to want to work out so he said that if you come to some practices with the team to even us out since there are 27 of us that he could get you a room there.”

Ella smiled at the fact that she would be getting to stay in the same place as her girl, but then it faltered because she was extremely nervous about having to practice with the national team. “He…uh…wants me to come practice with you guys?” she asked a bit timidly. 

Erin stole a quick glance at her and noticed she looked a bit worried, “Yea. Is, um, are you okay with that?”

Ella tried to recover quickly, “Yea, yea sure.”

The keeper just rolled her eyes and took Ella’s hand in her own, “Babe, are you a little nervous about that? It’s okay if you are.”

“No, I’m not nervous.”

Erin laughed and rolled her eyes, “I know you are lying, so don’t bother to try and deny it again. It’s okay if you’re a little nervous though, but you know Em and Carm really well, and you have met most of the team at some point.”

“Yea I know, I just, this is going to sound dumb but it’s just National team camp ya know? I only got to go to one in the US. I don’t…I don’t want to mess up.”

Erin reached over and took her hand, “I promise you will be fine babe. Sure we get intense, but I don’t think anyone is as intense as the US team. A lot of the girls are excited to meet you and play with you.”

“Yea?”

The keeper brought their intertwined hands up for a quick kiss. “Of course they are, they are so happy that you are here so that they don’t have to listen to me whine anymore.” Erin finished with a wink. 

The forward laughed, “Awww, have you been telling everyone how much you miss me.”

Erin blushed a little bit, “Yea, a bit.”

The forward leaned over and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. “You are too cute.”

 

The rest of the drive was just spent catching up with each other and when they arrived at the grounds Erin once again took Ella’s bag for her as they made their way inside. They got a few strange looks from the receptionist, it felt like she knew that they were sort of breaking the rules, but she let them in and gave Ella the passes she needed anyway. As they were walking towards the room Ella would be staying in Erin started explaining where things were and what the teams schedule was like for the next week. John only said he needed her to even things out for a couple practices, but she was more than welcome to join whenever she felt like it. 

“John is something special for you guys isn’t he?” Ella asked. 

Erin nodded as they reached Ella’s room. “Yea. He really is. He just makes us all feel really comfortable about who we are as individuals and as a team. He can be tough on the field, but he can be really laid back as well when we need it. He just gets us.”

They settled down on the bed and Erin brought the forward in close to cuddle. “I missed this so much. I haven’t been able to sleep as well as normal without you in my arms.”

Ella just nodded as she nestled against the keeper’s chest with a yawn. “Same here. I feel safe in your arms.”

Erin smiled and started running her hand along Ella’s back, “Why don’t you get some sleep. I’ll wake you for dinner in about an hour.”

“You’re going to stay here?”

Erin kissed the forward’s head. “Of course I am, been away from you for way too long. Go to sleep babe. I love you.”

“Mmm love you too.” Ella replied as she fell asleep. 

 

An hour later Ella woke up to butterfly kisses being scattered along her face. She was confused for a moment, but then smiled when she remembered she was finally back with her girl. “Mmm don’t want to move.”

“It’s dinner time babe. Carm and Em are dying to see you, plus my stomach started growling about 10 minutes ago.”  
Ella just laughed as she rolled off of the keeper. “Okay, okay, I’m up. Let’s go feed you.”

The forward was a bit nervous about ‘crashing’ the team’s dinner, but Erin had assured her earlier that it was completely fine. They were walking down the hall hand in hand towards the dinning room that was set up for the team when Ella was basically tackled from behind by two of her best friends. “ELLA!” Emily and Carm shouted as they hit the ground.

Erin just stood off to the side laughing as she watched her girlfriend’s shocked face. 

“Babe,” Ella said, breaking the keeper out of her trance, “Stop laughing and help me! They are trying to suffocate me!”

Erin leaned down and pulled her crazy teammates off of Ella with a smile on her face. “There ya go babe,” she stuck out her hand and pulled Ella up off of the ground, “no more suffocation.”

Ella gave her a kiss on a cheek, “Thank you.”

When the forward looked back to her two friends they were just staring back. “What?” she asked. 

“Oh nothing,” Em stated, “Just looking at how adorable you two are.”

Both women looked down with a slight blush to their faces. 

“Awww,” Carm let out, “Look at you two. Ugh. I can’t even handle this.”

“Lets just go get food you goofs.” Erin said as she put her arm around Ella. Carm put her arm around Erin and Em put hers around Ella. The forward just smiled at all the love she felt in that moment. 

After being introduced to the rest of the team Ella’s nerves completely went away. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to meet her and they all treated her like she was like a teammate. The forward was really surprised at how some of them welcomed her. She knew that the team had supported Erin and Melissa’s relationship, so she figured that there might have been some hard feelings, but that wasn’t the case at all. 

 

The next morning they had training and it was one that John requested that Ella be at so they could have even teams. She was a bit nervous at first, but then she remembered how well dinner went with the team, and how they seemed to like her, so that helped calm her down. John didn’t need her for the entire practice, just certain parts so he would call her over when needed, otherwise she just kind of worked out on her own. She did some footwork drills and some shooting drill on the goal at the other end of the field that wasn’t being used. 

When she heard John call for the girls to huddle up at the end of the practice she started to pick up the cones and stuff she had been using to take them back over to the bags and put them away. She was about halfway there when she heard Erin yell at her so she whipped her head up and she saw the entire Canadian team looking at her. “What?”

“Are you going to come join us?”

“I…I didn’t think…” Ella stuttered as she quickly made her way over. 

The spot opened up right in between John and Erin so Ella hesitantly took it and put her arms around them like everyone else in the circle was doing. “You’re here at practice so you get in here too, you’ll do recovery tonight with the team too.” John told he gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze. Now Ella understood what Erin was talking about when she said that John just gets them. 

They had a pool recovery session and Ella sort of felt like part of the team. John had told the group before practice that Ella was official their honorary Canadian for the week. He also told the girls not to go easy on her as well, he knew that she could hold her own even in the intense environment that was a national team camp. True to his directions the team treated her as another teammate on the field, there was no holding back or going easy on her when she was asked to participate in a drill, so she was glad that John was insistent on her going to the pool session with the team. 

When they were finished Ella and Erin parted ways to shower and get ready for dinner. 

 

After dinner the two were planning on just going back to Ella’s room, since Erin had a roommate, and just watching movies and cuddling. The keeper was hoping that after the first movie she would bring up the Skype conversation that the two had about a week ago. She didn’t want to pressure Ella into anything, but when she replied with what she did Erin thought that she might be getting more comfortable, or at least comfortable enough to have the conversation about that particular aspect of their relationship. 

About halfway through the movie Erin couldn’t focus at all, so she paused the movie. “Hey babe? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

Erin started fidgeting nervously. “Well, um, remember when we were Skyping on Christmas? I just, um, can we talk about that thing that you said?”

Ella knew immediately what the keeper was referring to at instantly started to blush. “Um, well, yea, okay we can talk about it.”

“Do you want to start? Or do you want me to?” Erin asked in a calm voice. 

Ella rolled over so that she was rested on top of the keeper, she just felt safer that way and it was easier to for her to open up. “Can you please?”

Erin just wrapped her arms around the forward and started rubbing her back soothingly. “Of course. You know that I love you so much yea?” the keeper waited for Ella to nod before continuing, “I would never pressure you to do anything you didn’t want to, but I’m not going to lie and tell you that I haven’t thought about it, because I have.”

After about a minute Ella broke her silence, “Me too,” she said as she buried her face into the keeper’s neck.

Erin just smiled; she knew that it was a big moment for Ella to admit she had been thinking about sex. “Yea?”

The forward nodded into Erin’s neck causing the keep to chuckle a bit. “Do you want to talk about what is going on in your head?”

“I don’t know how,” she mumbled against the skin on Erin’s neck. “I…I just…I love you and I want us to…uh…connect…no that sounds dumb…I just want to be able to show you that I love you…in…uh…that way, but I don’t want to like… be awful.”

Erin leaned down and nudged Ella so that she would turn her head for a kiss. She knew that the forward need to be reassured that what they were talking about was okay, that Ella shouldn’t be nervous about it. She tried to convey all that in the kiss, and when they pulled apart she spoke up again. “Baby, whenever it happens for us, it won’t be ‘awful.’ You know how I know that? Because it’s us. The only thing I care about is that you’re the one with me.” 

Ella let out a groan, “Why do you always have to be so sweet and thoughtful and understanding?”

Erin laughed at her girl. “Because I love you silly girl.”

“I love you too.”

Erin looked down at Ella when she said that and noticed that something had changed in the forward’s eyes; she knew exactly what Ella was thinking. 

She leaned down to capture her lips in a deep kiss and when she heard the forward moan into her mouth she knew that things were going to change tonight, but she still wanted Ella to completely comfortable, so she let Ella dictate what happened.

Currently the forward was on top of her with her hands roaming under the keeper’s shirt. After a little while Ella slowly pulled off Erin’s tank top and smiled shyly before leaning in again. Erin took this as a positive sign and as she let Ella’s hand’s wander over the newly exposed skin she ridded the forward of her own t-shirt.

They had done this much before, but they both knew that something more was coming tonight. 

Erin managed to flip them over so that Ella was on her back looking up at the keeper. She had her hands on the waistband of both Ella’s shorts and underwear and there was no mistaking about the question she was silently asking, but she decided to voice it, much like she did with their first kiss. She needed Ella to know that is was up to her. 

“Ella, I need a yes or a no.”

It was silent for a moment, then Erin felt Ella’s hands cover her own to help pull down the remaining clothing the forward had on.

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you want me to continue to write about this first week Ella has in Canada, or if you want me to sort of skip ahead to Valentines day stuff.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait! Hopefully the roughly 5k words helps :) 
> 
> Actual text from Zoey: "I'm gonna have to politely ask you to hurry the fuck up with the update:)"

Ella was still working on catching her breath as Erin made her way up the forward’s body. “Still with me babe?”

Ella took a couple more breaths before she was able to answer, “Yeah, I am sooo good right now.”

Erin smiled at her and then leaned in for a kiss. After just a moment though Ella pulled away with a blush on her face. “I…uh…that….”

The keeper was confused as to why she pulled away so quickly, but once Ella started rambling she remembered where her mouth had previously been before she kissed Ella. “Oh shit. Yea, uh so that just happened.”

“That was…was that…?”

“Uh, yea, that was…you.”

Ella just nodded, slightly turned away, and continued to blush.

“Are, um, are you okay?” the keeper asked a bit worried. 

Ella just leaned up and kissed her again with a shy smile. “Yea I’m okay. That was okay, well more than okay, the stuff before, that, erm, thing that just happened was just a, uh, new thing. I’ve never, erm, that was new.”

Erin looked at her with a questioning smile, “You’ve never had someone go down on you before? Or you’ve never, uh, tasted yourself?”

Ella looked away blushing again before mumbling, “Both.” Then after another beat of silence she started on another nervous ramble, “I’ve never, no I have but, it’s just, I didn’t-“

The keeper silenced her with another kiss. “You are going on another ramble.” Then she laid down and pulled Ella into her side to cuddle. “I’m assuming I was your first girl yea? We do it a little better than the boys do.” 

“I um, haven’t actually really, um-“

Erin cut her off with a sudden realization at what Ella was getting at. “Was I your first? Like of either gender? Because that is what I’m sensing from your little nervous ramble and now I’m on a ramble because if I was than that is sooo something we should have talked about, like quite a bit, before we did what we just did and—“

“Babe! Relax. You weren’t my first time ever, just, erm, first in a while, quite a while.”

“Can you please explain that so that I don’t feel so bad about what just happened?”

Ella took the keeper’s hand and started playing with her fingers, something Erin noticed would happen whenever Ella was nervous about something, before she started speaking, “There was a guy I dated in college and I wasn’t really ready,” she sensed that Erin was getting tense about what that could imply so she quickly finished her statement, “I didn’t like tell him no or anything though, I was willing and everything, but it was mostly because all my friends had and I hadn’t, so I just did even though looking back I wish I wouldn’t have. It was pretty crappy sex anyway. I haven’t really gone that far since that one time because it just kind of, I don’t know, scarred, no not scarred, but you know what I mean right?”

Erin pressed a kiss to the forward’s head, “I’m sorry your first wasn’t what it deserved to be. I get what you mean though, you were just very reserved after that.”

“Yea, reserved is a better word. Also um, I mean technically you’re my first girl but, uh...”

“What do you mean by ‘technically’?” Erin asked. 

“Well, um I was in college you know.”

“You? You experimented in college?” Erin asked in a shocked voice.

“Yea, sort of I guess. Doesn’t everybody at least a little bit?”

Erin smiled at her girl; she definitely wanted to hear about these experimental days. “Well, go on then, do tell.” 

“It’s dumb, it wasn’t even anything that was that big of a deal.” Ella noticed that Erin was still looking at her though, so she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to just be vague about this. “The team decided one night to like have a bonding thing, so we all went over to one of the girls’ houses and just locked ourselves in and got drunk. I apparently told everyone that I had never kissed a girl before, and that led to a bit of a make-out slash groping thing.”

Erin smiled, she was going to have fun teasing Ella about this. “Oh really? Because all I can see is this straight as an arrow college Ella who would never even think about kissing, or coping a feel with another girl.”

Ella lightly hit the keeper in the stomach, “You’re mean.”

Erin laughed and kissed her again. “I’m just a little surprised is all, you get all cute and nervous when you talk about it though and that’s really fun for me to see.”

Ella rolled on top of the keeper, ready to defender herself, but then remembered that there wasn’t anything to separate their bodies and started blushing again. 

“Really?” the keeper asked raising her eyebrow, “After what just happened you’re still nervous and blushing?”

Ella blushed even more heavily because of what she was thinking about. She played out those thoughts as she let her hands travel down the keeper’s body. 

“Babe, you don’t have to if you aren’t comfortable with it yet. It would be more than okay if you wanted to be a princess,” she said with at smirk, “in this situation. I don’t want you to do this because you think you need to.”

Ella looked up at the keeper, then back down at her hand. After a moment of pause she kept gong. “I want to, I really do, but I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t want this to be awful for you,” she finished shyly. 

Erin quickly kissed her worry away. “If you’re sure you want to,” she said as she waited for Ella to nod, “then just think about what makes you feel good, and just trust your instinct. If you want to stop at anytime just—oh.”

Ella smirked, “My instincts are telling me that this might make you stop talking.” Then she followed Erin’s advice.

 

The next morning it was easy to tell that the two girls were on Cloud 9. Carm and Em were definitely smirking at them across the breakfast table; they definitely had an idea as to why the two were in such a good mood, and that drew the attention of the rest of the team as well, specifically Erin’s partner in crime KK and the out spoken 16 year old, Jessie. 

“Okay, you two,” KK said pointing to Carm and Em, “definitely know something we don’t know. And you two,” she said pointing to Ella and Erin, “Have that ‘just fucked’ look on your faces, so I’m going to need you to tone it down because there is an innocent child in the room...Oh my god I know that face! That isn’t a ‘just fucked’ face that is a ‘first time fucking’ face! Get that out of here! We have a minor!” she finished as she covered a giggling Jessie’s eyes. 

Ella immediately turned bright red and buried her face into Erin’s neck. Sure she expected to be teased, she knew how the girls were, but she didn’t expect KK to just yell out to everyone at breakfast. “Aw, babe,” Erin said as she comforted the forward, “KK is just teasing, and Jessie doesn’t care, she is 16 I’m sure she knows what sex is.”

“You aren’t really helping,” Ella mumbled into the keeper’s neck. 

Erin just laughed and kissed the forward on the top of her head. “I’m sorry baby, but I’m sure Sophie will fall at practice or something and everyone will forget about it.”

“I heard that!” Sophie yelled from across the room.

“Speaking of practice,” Erin said ignoring the midfielder, “I know John doesn’t need you today, but are you going to come with us?”

Ella leaned back so that she wasn’t buried in the keeper’s embrace anymore so she could look at her. “I think I’m going to check out the gym. I kind of feel like a weight day.” 

“Okay, just make sure if you want to really get after it to find someone to spot you. We don’t want a repeat of Chicago where you and Carm thought you could be tough and didn’t need spotters.”

“I will. I promise. Now go get ready for practice and I will see you at lunch. You guys have the rest of the day off right?”

“Yup. After lunch we are free to do whatever, so start thinking about what you want to do. We can go sightseeing a bit, or we can stay in and watch a movie. I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

“Okay.” Ella said as they stood up to part ways. She gave the keeper a kiss on the lips, “I’ll see you later baby. Have a good practice, love you.”

“Love you more, remember what I said about a spotter.”  
Ella rolled her eyes, but gave a thumbs up anyway as she disappeared around the corner to go to the gym. She mainly wanted a gym day so that she could process the events of last night without the distractions of other people around. As she was getting finished with her session by stretching, a smile came across her face. She thought about the events of last night and felt nothing but happiness and love. 

She knew that Erin was concerned about how she would process her first time with a woman, but she knew that she would reassure the keeper that it was more than okay when she got back from practice. 

Once she was finished she made her way back to her room. She showered and thought about what she wanted to do with Erin for the rest of the day. The forward figured that the other girls on the team would have figured out something to do, so she would just ask Erin if she wanted to do whatever they were doing. 

When she was drying her hair Erin came bursting through the door with a massive smile on her face. “Babe! Did you think of something to do? Because Carm had a really good idea to do a webshow! Like a reunion! Why didn’t we think of that?”

Ella smiled at the keeper’s enthusiasm. “That sounds like a great idea. I would love to do another show!” she said as she stepped out of the bathroom to greet Erin with a kiss. 

“Yea? You didn’t have anything else you wanted to do? Because we don’t have to do it tonight if there was something else you wanted to do.”

“I actually hadn’t really thought of anything particular, I was going to ask you what the other girls were doing and see if you wanted to do something with them, but I love the idea of doing a show with you and Carm.”

Erin smiled, “Great! We can hang out here for a little bit since Carm is going shopping with some of the girls and then when she gets back we can film it? Does that sound okay?”

Ella smiled and kissed the keeper again, “That sounds perfect babe. Why don’t you find where we were in the movie last nigh and we can watch the rest of it since we never finished,” Ella said with a suggestive wink. 

Erin stuttered for a moment, surprised by Ella’s confidence. “I…Uh…yea I can do that.”

The forward grinned triumphantly; she finally was able to get Erin to stutter awkwardly instead of it being herself that was tripping over words. 

“Hey babe?” Ella asked as she settled down against the keeper.

“Hmm?”

“I know you are kind of concerned about me and what is going on in my head and stuff, but I just want you to know that I really am okay. I know you were my first woman, but I wouldn’t trade last night for anything. I love you and I love that we can do that now to show each other. You just made me feel happy and loved so I have nothing but good things cross my mind when I think of last night okay? So you can stop worrying about it now. Got it?”

Erin smiled and kissed the forward’s head. “Okay, okay, I hear you, but you know how my head works. I want you to be comfortable with everything that we do so that means I just overthink a lot of things.”

“I know baby, and I appreciate that so, so much, but I think it’s safe to assume that you don’t really have to overthink things as much. You don’t really have anything you need to ask me if I’m sure about doing anymore,” she finished with a smile. 

“I suppose you’re right about that.” Erin said with a laugh. 

They spent the next hour or so just relaxing in the room, watching a movie, and waiting for Carm to text her. When the defender texted saying she had returned they met up in one of the office rooms and started setting everything up. They changed into their Peau de Loup shirts, hung up a few posters, and then went over how they should do the show. It was decided that Carm and Ella would start out, and then Erin would join in after a little bit. 

During the filming they talked about their years, the trades that happened and then answered twitter questions.

“The best question I’ve gotten is do we like Ella’s hair.”

“That’s the best question you’ve got?” Ella said laughing. 

The show continued in that manner, like nothing had changed, and the two Canadians teasing the forward. 

“Now I think we should address the elephant in the room,” Carm started and immediately Ella and Erin had a quick look question cross their faces. They knew Carm wouldn’t say anything, but they couldn’t help the little moment of panic. “Does Ella have any long lost Canadian relatives? I feel like Canada is looking to adopt Ella, I mean she would be a great addition.” 

Ella let out a laugh of relief, “I mean, I don’t think so. I can ask my mom though.”

“Yea go back in the lineage and check that out.”

They ended the show laughing hysterically and as Carm shut off the camera Erin gave Ella a quick kiss “I love your hair.” 

“Thank you baby. However, I’m mad at you still. ‘How do you still put up with Ms. Masar?’ Really? That was the question you picked?”

“Aww, babe, don’t be mad. You had fun with it and you know it.”

“I know, but it almost made me slip up.”

Erin looked down, “We would have found a way to cover it up.”

Ella noticed the change in the keeper’s mood immediately, “Hey, if something were to happen and we would slip up then that would be okay. I would never ever ask you to ‘cover up’ anything. I would be okay.”

“But you said you didn’t want to be out yet.”

Ella shrugged, “Well yea I’m not ready to announce it to the world yet, but I would never ask you to lie about our relationship. If something were to happen then we would come out, not lie and deny it.”

Carm realized she needed to give them a moment so she took the laptop and muttered something about editing before she left the room to let them continue their conversation. 

“I’m sorry, I just…some things from, um, Mel’s impact kind of stuck and I just sort of went back to that place where I had to apologize for doing dumb things.”

Ella leaned in for a kiss. “Well no more apologizing okay? I’m not Mel. I’m not going to ask you to hide yourself. I’m going to post pictures of us on instagram and tag you in them. Sure I’m not ready to be like ‘look at my girlfriend and I’ but I will let people know that you are special. In fact,” she said as she pulled out her phone. “I’m going to post a picture now.”

Ella found the picture they took right before filming, it was of the two of them looking at each other laughing. It was pretty clear that they were a couple in the picture. 

“How about you post the one of all 3 of us?” Erin suggested. Sure Ella was confident about posting a coupley picture now, but she figured the forward would maybe regret it a little later. “You might want to post that one now, but we just talked about you aren’t ready to be out, that picture would raise a lot of questions.”

Ella took a moment to think. “Yea, you’re probably right. I don’t know if I would be ready for that just yet. Thank you for thinking about that.”

“You’re welcome babe. Um I have something to ask you though.” She waited until Ella nodded at her to go ahead and ask. “My parents are going to be in town tomorrow and want to have dinner. If, um, you’re up to it I would really love for you to come.”

“Come…come and…like…meet…meet…your parents?” Ella finally stuttered out. 

“Only if you want to. If you think it’s too soon then we can wait. They would understand, but um, they do want to meet you.”

“They do?”

Erin smiled, “Of course they do. I won’t shut up about you; they want to meet the girl that stole my heart. Those were my mom’s words.”

Ella was nervous; this would be a big step in their relationship if she said yes. She wanted to, but she wanted to make the best impression possible, and she was still working on explaining the thoughts in her head so she didn’t want to mess up and have Erin’s parents hate her. “I want to, but what if I say something wrong and they hate me.”

Erin brought the forward in for a hug. “They won’t hate you. I can promise you that, but if you don’t feel comfortable yet then you don’t have to come. It’s totally okay.” 

“I want to. Yea.”

A smile lit up Erin’s face; she wasn’t sure that Ella would actually say yes. “Yea? You do?”

“Yea.”

Erin leaned down to kiss her. “You are amazing. I’m so proud of you.”

Ella couldn’t help but smile back. Anytime she did something regarding their relationship Erin would always voice that she was proud of her, or say something about how courageous she was being, but for her it wasn’t being courageous, it was being honest, she just didn’t know how to voice that yet. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too. Let’s go find Carm and watch the show back yea?”

Ella nodded and took her hand “Yea, let’s go!”

The laughed along as they watched it back and then uploaded it for everyone to see. They hung out for a bit after, but they had early training tomorrow so they called it a night pretty quick. 

When they got back to Ella’s room they got ready for bed and Erin asked if Ella would be joining them for training tomorrow. 

“Yea I think so. Even though John doesn’t need me for this one I want to get some touches.”

“Good. I like having you there. Goodnight love.”

“Night baby.”

 

Practice came and went; Ella ended up jumping into a few drills anyway just for fun, and then they did their recovery session. Before she knew it she found herself getting ready for dinner with Erin’s parents. They were going out to a pretty nice place, so that made the forward even more nervous. 

“Are you sure this is okay?” Ella asked. She was wearing a green dress with a black floral pattern, a black cardigan and a pair of back boots. 

“You look great baby, that’s perfect.” Erin was dressed in black pants and a blue Peau de Loup shirt. “Are you ready to go?”

“Y-yea.”

Erin took her hand and led her to the car. “They are going to love you baby, just relax and be yourself. I’m sure they will love you.”

Ella nodded. “I hope you are right.”

They pulled up to the restaurant and Erin went around to open the door for Ella and take her hand. Before they walked in Erin stole a kiss. “Relax. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yea.” Ella said, nerves evident in her voice. 

“They are going to love you. I promise. Now, let’s go shall we?”

Ella nodded and they headed inside hand in hand. 

When they got to the table Erin dropped her hand to giver her parents a hug. Once hugs were given she took the forward’s hand once more. “Mom, Dad, this is Ella.” 

The forward smiled and went to shake their hands, but Erin’s mom pulled her in for a hug instead. “Hello dear, it’s so great to finally meet you. Erin talks about you all the time.”

Ella blushed and looked at the keeper who just shrugged, because yea, she did talk about her all the time. 

Once introductions were done they sat down for dinner. For the most part the conversation was light and easy. Nothing too serious about their relationship came up, they did talk about their first date though and then she listened to Erin’s parent’s embarrass the keeper by telling stories. They were having a really great time and Ella felt confident that Erin’s parents liked her…until the keeper went to the bathroom. 

“So,” Erin’s dad started, “I’m assuming Erin and you have talked about the scars that her last relationship left on her.”

Ella immediately knew that this was the part that she could not fuck up. “Yea, we have talked about it, quite a bit actually. I know that when she was with Melissa she had to kind of hide a part of herself and I never, ever want her to feel like she has to do that. I’m not ready to announce our relationship to the world yet, but if I’m back in the states and I’m missing her, I feel comfortable posting something on twitter.”

Apparently that was the correct answer because both of Erin’s parents had smiles on their faces. “Well, we are certainly glad to hear that.”

Erin re-joined them back at the table and noticed that Ella was looking at her quite lovingly. “What did I miss?”

Erin’s dad shot Ella a wink before the forward answered. “Nothing much babe. Just talking.” 

Erin looked suspicious, but she let it go and they enjoyed the rest of their time together. When they were finished they walked Erin’s parent’s to the car and both women received hugs and promised that next time that Ella was up she would come to the house and meet the rest of the family. 

“See babe,” Erin said as they got in their car, “I told you that you had nothing to worry about. They definitely loved you.”

“I love them too. They really were great. I can’t wait to meet the rest of your family. I can’t believe I have to leave in two days.” 

“I know baby. But then it will be just a month before you are back.”

They continued to talk on the way back, and when they arrived they went back to the forward’s room. “I don’t want to leave.” Ella stated, “I’ve had such an amazing time up here with the girls, with you, with your family, I don’t want to go.”

“I don’t want you to go either, but you already have plans with your family, and you need to head back out to Colorado with the girls. Don’t worry though you will be back up here before you know it.”

Ella yawned as they got in bed. “Yea I know. I’m just really going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too babe. We should get some sleep though, we have your last training session with the team tomorrow.”

Ella nodded and snuggled up to the keeper. 

 

The next two days flew by and before they knew it, it was time to take Ella to the airport. Carm and Em came with them to see Ella off as well. 

“It was good to see you Thunder. You’ll be back before you know it, and don’t worry, Em and I will keep her in line for ya.”

Ella laughed and squeezed Carm in a hug. “Thanks buddy. I’ll see you soon.”

Ella and Em had a similar seeing off and then the two defenders gave the women a bit of space to say their goodbyes. 

“I love you.” Erin said and then gave the forward a kiss.

When the kiss broke Ella buried her face in the crook of the keeper’s neck and mumbled out something that sort of resembled a ‘love you too.’ They stayed locked in their embrace for a couple of minutes. Ella had her arms wrapped tightly around Erin’s waist, and the keeper had one arm wrapped around Ella’s back and the other was resting on the back of her head gently running her fingers through the dark brown hair, purposely pushing it off of her one shoulder.

Erin’s kissed the top of Ella’s head a couple times so that the forward would look at her. “I’ll miss you so much baby, but only a month until you come back, that is no time at all compared to the 2 and a half that we were apart.”

Ella nodded and wiped at a tear that had fallen. “Yea. Just a little bit til I come back. I love you.”

Erin leaned down for another kiss, “Love you more, now go on, don’t want to miss your flight. The little munchkins are waiting for you at home.”

Ella nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”

Erin gave her one last kiss. “Call me when you land, and we will Skype later tonight okay?”

“Yea. Love you.”

“Love you too baby.”

Ella boarded her flight and took out her iPad after the plane was at cruising altitude. A smile came across her face immediately. At some point Erin must have taken the device because there were a bunch of silly pictures and a couple of videos. She also had written a bunch of ‘notes’ for the forward as well. They had titles on when to read them as well, so she opened the one that read, ‘On the plane home.’ 

‘Hey baby, I miss you, I love you, and I hope that you like this little surprise I did for you. No peeking at the notes early! I know how you are, but I promise they will be worth the wait okay? Now, I know you are going to be with your nieces soon, so go ahead and take a nap. You can read the next note when you land. Give the little ones big hugs and kisses for me and tell them that I can’t wait to see them again. I love you so so so much and I’ll talk to you soon. Xoxo your keeper’ 

Ella smiled at the thoughtfulness of her girl; she would have to remember to ask later when she had the time to do all of this. 

She found a video of Erin singing recorded on the iPad so she played it and then promptly fell asleep for the remainder of the flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up is Valentines Day so other than the Miley concert any and all ideas are welcome so please comment if you have something you want to see! I'm really struggling with what else to put in the next one! :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! An update before like midnight!!! :)

Over the course of the next month Ella pulled up the videos and notes that Erin had left for her on her iPad. She would smile at them all and usually would request to Skype, not like they didn’t Skype as often as possible anyway.   
“Hey baby! How was training?” Ella said when the keeper answered the Skype call.

“It was a good session. We are really starting to click well. You sound a bit stiffed up though, are you getting sick?”

“I think I might be catching a cold. Nothing to worry about though, I’m sure it will be gone by next week when I come back up to see you.”

“I hope so too baby. I don’t want you to be sick and have to cancel. Did Carm call you yet and tell you what is happening?”

Ella looked at her quizzically. “Why would Carm call me to tell me what we are doing for Valentines Day?”

“Because,” Erin started, “Miley Cyrus is going to be here soooo we all thought that would be a fun thing to do, Carm and Kaylyn are especially freaking out, but it is on the 14th so I thought that I would just double check that it was cool with you.” 

Ella knew that this was going to turn into a rant about making sure she was okay with the new Valentines Day plans, so she just smiled at the screen and waited to see how long it would take Erin to notice. 

“You and I would still do something special obviously during the day, but if, um, if it is okay with you we can move the dinner we were going to do to the next day and go to the concert. Of course that’s if you want to do that, I can always tell Carm to give away our tickets and we can stick to the plan that we made originally but I thought I would bring up the option because I know in Chicago how much you and Carm would obsess over wanting to see Miley…and you don’t care what we do right? That is why you just let me ramble on?” Erin finished, finally catching on.

Ella laughed, “You got it babe. A Miley concert with the girls sounds like a blast and we can just do what ever you had planned like the next day. I love you.”

Erin just rolled her eyes, “Love you more, now you should get some sleep. You need your rest if you are starting to get sick. Promise you won’t over do it when you are working out?”

“I promise baby.”

“Good. I can’t wait for next week baby, I miss you so, so much I don’t know how we did 2 months last time. This feels so much longer.” 

Ella got snuggled up in bed, Erin couldn’t help but smile at her adorable girl all cuddled under her blanket, “I know. But I can’t wait to come back up, and it will be for a week again. Will I be staying with you guys again at the training center? Like same situation as last time?”   
Erin scratched the back of her neck, “Well, um actually the day after you come up we have the week off, so I uh, thought that maybe, if you wanted, we could go and stay with my sister, you can meet more of my family and stuff. My niece and nephew will love you.”

Ella smiled nervously, “Um, yea. Okay.”

“Yea? You’re okay with that? My parents were probably the tough ones, Megan will be a piece of cake.”

Ella just nodded.

Erin looked at her quizzically for a moment, and then an idea came to her and she smiled, “Oh my god. You’re nervous about Malcolm’s little test aren’t you!? Babe, that is so cute.”

Ella looked away sheepishly, she felt silly that she was worried about the approval of a five year old, but she really wanted everyone in Erin’s family to like her. “I just really want everyone in your family to like me, that includes your niece and nephew.”

“You are the sweetest. Trust me though; you will definitely pass his test. I promise. Now, get some rest okay? I love you.”

“Love you more. Goodnight babe.”

Erin blew a kiss and then signed off.

Over the next few days Ella realized she was really starting to get sick. It was just a cold, but she knew that if it didn’t blow over soon there was a big possibility that she would have to cancel her trip. 

Erin had keeper workouts on top of the teams regular practice now, so their Skype calls were usually every other day now since the keeper was so worn out. Erin was concerned their last call that Ella was getting sicker. She really wanted to forward to be there for Valentines Day, but obviously her health came first, and right now it looked like the forward would have to cancel the trip.

“Baby, I don’t want you coming up here if you are already sick. The flight will be miserable for you and I know you wouldn’t have much fun because I would make you stay in bed for most of trip until you got better. It’s not worth it.”

Ella was snuggled up in bed, but this time instead of being a cuddling type of cute, she was a sick cutie. The keeper always though her girlfriend looked cute, but this was the first time she had seen her genuinely sick. She reminded the keeper of what a small child would look like. Ella was wrapped in blankets, had tissues everywhere, her nose was red, and her eyes were puffy, but she still was adorable. 

“I’ll get better. I know it. This seems like the worst of it so it will start to look up. I bet I wake up tomorrow and feel better.”

“I hope you do too. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

Ella shook her head. “We only get to Skype every other day and we haven’t even been talking that long, so go on, tell me about your day.”

Erin smiled because she could tell that Ella would be asleep in about a minute, but is was cute that she wanted to try and stay awake anyway. “Okay, well I think Soph set a new record on how fast it took her to fall. Literally when we were walking on the field for warm ups she just ate it. It was so funny babe.” 

Sophie just happened to be the keeper’s new roommate, John liked to switch it up every week, so the keeper had to take her eyes off of the computer to dodge the pillow that was throw her way and when she looked back Ella was asleep with a smile on her face. A soft smile came across the keeper’s face, “Goodnight baby,” she said as she closed the laptop.

“God you are so in love with that girl. It really is adorable Erin; I’m happy for you.”

Erin blushed a little bit, “Thanks Soph.”

“Look at you! All blushing, that never happens. She must really have you wrapped around her finger.”

“Of course she does,” Erin admitted with no shame, “She is so amazing.”

“Not to dampen the mood and get all serious, but, just, after everything went downhill with you and Mel we were all really worried, about both of you, so I’m just really glad you are happy again; even if it makes us want to vomit sometimes with how cute you two are.”

Erin got up and tackled the midfielder on her bed in a hug. “Aww, Soph, one day someone is going to come in to your life and it will all happen for you and then I can get you back for always teasing me.”

“There is no way that I will be as grossly cute as you are.”

Erin got up and went back to her own bed to get settled in for the night. “You say that now, but just you wait Soph, just you wait.”

 

Even though they couldn’t Skype, Ella and Erin still kept in contact the best that they could. Ella had texted the keeper earlier telling her that she was feeling better and that she was sure that she would be able to come up for Valentines Day. The holiday fell on Thursday so John gave them the week off so that they could spend it how they wished. The team knew that he was aware of their concert plans though and probably just didn’t want to deal with them talking about Miley. Ella was due up on Saturday, they would head to her sister Megan’s house on Sunday, hang out around that area until the concert, then spend the rest of the time before they had to return to residency at Carm’s place.

When Saturday morning arrived Erin was bouncing off the walls. They had training in the morning and then they were free to go after lunch, so Erin was basically counting down until she could leave to go pick up Ella.

“Slow down there bud, just because you eat your food faster doesn’t mean time speeds up.” Carm said with a laugh. 

“Shut up, I’m excited. I just want to see her. It feels like it has been forever even though this time was shorter than last time.”

Carm just smiled and gave her a pat on the back. “I’m sure she feels the same way too bud. I feel sorry for the poor soul that has to sit next to her on the plane.”

“I’m hoping she isn’t too tense. She isn’t the biggest fan of flying to begin with, so I made her a bit of a playlist to help keep her calm and hopefully helps her sleep. I emailed it to her this morning so I’m hoping she has time to download it before she leaves.”

“Awww that’s really sweet.”

Erin just shrugged, “Yea, I just want her to feel better when she is on planes so hopefully it helps.”

Just as she finished her sentence her phone rang out for a FaceTime call with the forward. 

“Hey baby, I see you are at the airport, prepare to get weird looks as you talk to your phone in public.”

Ella just laughed, “I don’t care about that. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the playlist you sent me. I only recognize a couple of the songs so I’ll be enjoying it a lot I bet. Plus how can I not when you included some of your own stuff. It will definitely help my nerves.”

Carm had been making kissy faces at them the entire time so Erin threw her napkin in the defender’s face before replying to her girl. “You’re welcome baby. I can’t wait to see you. Just a few more hours!” she finished excitedly. 

Erin heard a muffled intercom voice and then Ella spoke up, “Well, that’s me. Go get a good session in and when you are done with lunch after training you’ll be able to come pick me up!”

“I can’t wait. Have a good flight, love you.”

“Love you too. Kick ass at practice.”

Ella ended the call and smiled to herself thankful that the keeper couldn’t hear the words across the intercom, just a bit of mumbling. She had told the keeper that she would be there after lunch, but she ended up finding an earlier flight so she was currently waiting in her layover, not her first flight like Erin thought, so she would be at the hotel with the team got finished with practice instead of after lunch like the Erin thought. Carm helped her out by letting her know times and such and making sure it was okay with John that Ella would be joining them a bit earlier. 

 

When Ella got to the facilities she went to the front desk and got the key that Carm left for her for Erin’s room. She knew that the keeper always came back to the room before lunch to change out of her practice clothes so when Carm texted her saying they were almost back she smiled and sat on the keeper’s bed waiting. 

She started to hear a few voices so she knew that the team was back. She was laid back against the headboard when she heard Erin shout to whomever she was talking to that she would be back down for lunch in just a minute. 

When the keeper walked in she went straight to her bag, not seeing Ella, and took off her shirt to change. Ella smirked at let out a wolf whistle, which caused the keeper to scream and almost trip over her bag. 

“You scared the shit out of me babe,” she said as she put her clean shirt on. Then realization hit her. “What…but I thought…you lied to me!” Erin finished with a smile as she jumped on the bed, and embraced Ella. 

The forward laughed as Erin repeatedly kissed her cheeks. “I didn’t lie per say, I just with held some information in order to surprise you.”

Erin pulled back a little bit and cupped Ella’s cheek, “Best surprise ever,” she said before she leaned in and gave Ella a proper kiss. 

After a few minutes of ‘greeting’ each other Carm knocked on the door and then barged in with a hand over her eyes, “Alright keep it in your pants McStud, we still need to go eat and have a quick team meeting so get off your girl and lets go.”

“You knew!?”

Carm just laughed, “Of course I knew. Who do you think helped plan this, certainly Ella couldn’t do it on her own.”

“Hey!” Ella said with a pout. “I totally could have!”

Carm rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Yea, sure, whatever you say peasant. Now come on, food awaits us.”

Ella pouted but got up anyway mumbling, “I totally could have pulled this off.”

Erin smiled and leaned down for a quick peck. “I know you could have baby.”

“Thank you,” the forward said as they made their way down to eat. 

When they were finishing up John approached the table, “Ella, good do see your plan worked out well,” he said with a warm smile. “Erin, keeper meeting in 5 minutes.”

“You knew too! Did everyone know but me?”

Erin looked around and saw that everyone was nodding their heads and laughing. With and eye roll she got up and left with the other keepers for their meeting.

Ella went ahead and got up to go back to Erin’s room when John stopped her. “Normally when the girls get visitors, they get two weeks, I’m sure Erin explained that to you.” He waited for Ella to nod before he continued, “If you do want to come up at any point though, just let us know. The staff and I really liked having an even number of girls here, and I get the feeling you like training in a team sort of environment rather than just on your own during the off-season. So just keep in mind that you’re always welcome to come and train with us for this sort of camp.”

Ella smiled, “Thanks coach,” he insisted that she call him that during her first visit, “I knew you had those rules, especially the ones about significant others for a good reason, so I assure you that if I take you up on that offer, it will be from a professional standpoint.”

John just laughed and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “No it won’t, but that’s okay, as long as you and Erin keep it professional on the field.”

Ella blushed a little bit but nodded. “Got it coach. Thanks again.”

John started to walk away towards the meeting room, but then turned once more, “You’re a fantastic player Ella, the US is blowing their chance by not calling you up, any country would be lucky to have a striker like you.” Then he left for the meeting before Ella could reply.

Ella was on the bed when Erin came back in from the meeting and snuggled up with her. The forward rolled on top of Erin with a glint in her eyes that immediately sent shudders down Erin’s spine. 

“I missed you,” the forward said as she slipped her hands under the keeper’s shirt. If there was any doubt as to where tonight was headed it was washed away when Ella continued by pulling off the t-shirt.

Erin smiled and flipped them over so that she could hover above Ella. “I missed you too,” she said as she removed the forward’s own shirt and then gave her a passionate kiss. “I’m going to show you just how much I missed you.”

 

The next morning Erin woke up on her back with a naked Ella sprawled across her chest, yea, she could get used to this. “Baby, wake up. We have to get ready to head to my sister’s house soon.”

Ella stirred, but just buried herself into the keeper’s embrace further. 

“Come on baby,” she said as she gave the forward kisses, “We need to get going soon.”

Ella groaned and rolled off the keeper. “Fine, fine, I’m up.”

“Thank you beautiful. I’m going to hop in the shower, do you want to join me?” she asked with a smirk. 

“That sounds like a great idea, ya know, conserve water and all,” the forward said as she followed the keeper into the bathroom.

After continuing with the previous nights activities until the hot water ran out, they got packed up and headed out for the hour drive to Megan’s place. When they were about fifteen minutes out Erin could see that the nerves were starting to come to Ella.

“Baby, relax okay? Everyone is excited to meet you and they will love you. If you are still worried about Malcolm’s little test you don’t need to be. I told you that you would pass it already. It will be the easiest thing for you.”

“Ugh. I know, I mean he is 5 it can’t be that hard. I just really want to make a good first impression with them.”

Erin brought their intertwined hands up and gave the back of Ella’s hand a quick kiss. “You will baby. I promise. Lily is a little princess, just like Cambria, so you will love her and she will love you too, and Malcolm is the sweetest little boy ever. You will be fine.”

When they pulled up to the house Lily was out front dancing around the yard in a tutu with her mom watching from the front steps; the boys must have been inside. 

As soon as the keeper was out of the car Lily was running at her telling her how much she missed her aunt. The keeper scooped up the little girl and gave her a kiss on the cheek before setting her back down and spinning her so she could look at the tutu. “Is that your new tutu princess?” she waited for the little girl to nod before continuing, “It’s beautiful.”

Lily signaled that she wanted to be picked up again then she whispered something in Erin’s ear that caused the keeper to smile. She winked at Ella before answering what ever the little girl had asked. 

“Do you remember when I told you I had a very special person in my life?”

Lily nodded. “Yea! You said she took your heart! I didn’t know what that meant but you said it meant that you loved her, like how mommy loves daddy.”

“That’s right kiddo. This is Ella, she is the one that took my heart.”

Ella smiled and waved at Lily. “Your aunt has told me so much about you. You are definitely the beautiful princess that she told me all about.”

Lily blushed and hid against Erin’s neck for a second before whispering something else to the keeper again. 

“Why don’t ask her kiddo?”

Lily turned to Ella and shyly asked, “Do you want to have a princess tea party later with me?”

Ella’s face lit up causing the little girl to smile, “I would love that! Your aunty never wants to have tea parties with me,” she said with a wink. 

Megan looked on with a smile on her face. She could tell that Erin had found the right one for her. When they walked over Megan didn’t even hesitate bringing Ella in for a hug. “It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many good things about you.”

“Like wise.” Ella said as she returned the hug. 

“Now,” Megan started after hugging her sister, “There is a little boy in there very excited to meet you. Have you told her what the test was?”

“No. I figured that she would be fine.” Erin said, then she turned to Ella, “You should know that Malcolm is a hugger, not quite as shy as his sister.”

Ella nodded, “Got it. Well, let’s go see him!” 

They walked in holding hands, and after Megan introduced Ella to her husband Malcolm came running around the corner to give his favorite aunt a hug.

“Hey little man! I missed you sooo much!” 

“I missed you too. I don’t like it when you have to be gone for so long.”

“I know buddy. I don’t either. I have someone very special I want you to meet though, do you want to meet Ella?”

Malcolm nodded and wiggled down from Erin’s grasp before walking over to the forward. Ella promptly knelt down so that she could be eye level with him. “It’s very nice to meet you Mr. Malcolm,” Ella said with a smile. 

Malcolm gave her a serious look and then reached out and gave her a hug. 

Ella was a bit surprised at that, she figured the ‘test’ would be first, but she returned the hug anyway. 

After a moment Malcolm pulled away smiling then looked at Erin. “She passed. She gives waaaay better hugs than the other one did.”

“She does give really good hugs doesn’t she?”

Malcolm nodded. “Mhmm. I can tell she isn’t going to make you sad like the other one did.”

Ella held out her pinky to the boy. “I pinky promise that I will do my best to never, ever, make your aunt sad.”

Malcolm gave her his pinky and they shook on it with smiled on their faces. After a few more questions from Malcolm he ran off to go play in the back yard.

“See, I told you his test would be a piece of cake for you.”

“He is so cute babe. I love that he wants to protect you from all of the bad things.”

“Yea, he, uh, after the break up I was staying here for a little bit, and one night he came into my room because he heard me crying. I don’t know why, but I just kind of told him the kid friendly version of what happened. I hadn’t really told anyone else yet. So that night her stayed to protect me and told me that he would make sure I wasn’t sad ever again. He really is the cutest little boy ever. I don’t know why I spilled my guts to a four year old, but looking back I’m really glad he was there.”

Ella nodded and wrapped her arms around Erin’s waist. “I know what you mean. Kids just have this innocents about them. When I was telling Seredy about us, Cambria came over and asked if I loved you like ‘mommy loves daddy’ and I said yes. Then she asked if I wanted to marry you. I hadn’t even told the rest of my family that we were even together, but, um, I…I told her that I did, one day.”

Erin smiled so brightly. “Yea? I mean…good… yea…I do too, one day. I love you so much.”

Ella smiled and gave her a sweet peck, “I love you too, but I must leave you to go have a tea party with your adorable niece.”

Erin smiled as Lily and Ella walked hand in had to Lily’s room talking about the important princess things that needed addressing.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being so patient. School kicked my ass the last couple weeks, but Thanksgiving break is coming so hopefully I'll be able to write a bit more.

Erin was putting their bags in the car to head to Carm’s for the concert as Ella was saying goodbye to the keeper’s family. 

“Bye, bye Ella. Thank you for having a tea party with me and playing dress up. I had lots of fun.” Lily said as she gave Ella a hug. 

“I had a lot of fun too cutie pie.” Ella replied as she picked up the little girl and spun her around. 

“Will you come back next time with Aunt Erin?”

“Of course I will, if I can. Remember how I live kind of far away?” she waited for the little girl to nod before continuing, “Well sometimes it is hard for me to come up here, but I promise I will do my best. Is that okay?”

Lily nodded her head and gave Ella another hug before the forward set her down and she went back inside to her mom. 

Malcolm was helping Erin put the bags in the car like the little man he was, “Aunt Erin?”

“What’s up buddy?”

“Do you love Ella?”

The keeper smiled, “I do, I love her a lot.”

“You said you loved Melissa too though. What if Ella makes you sad?”

Erin sighed; her nephew was wise beyond his years. “I know, but it’s different this time. I did love Mel, but the love I have for Ella is so much stronger compared to what Melissa and I had.”

“So, like, you loved Melissa, but you loooooove Ella?”

“Yea, I guess that is a good way to explain it buddy. You are so smart.”

Malcolm smiled shyly. “I’m gonna miss you.”

Erin scooped him up into her arms, “I’m going to miss you too, so, so much.”

Ella was smiling as she watched the loving moment happen. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she assumed it was a sweet goodbye moment. Next thing she knew though, the keeper had set her nephew down and he ran right to Ella. She knelt down and picked the little boy up in a hug. 

“You make my aunt very happy. Please don’t make her sad.”

“I promise buddy. I love her too much to ever, ever make her sad.”

“Good,” he said and then gave Ella a quick kiss on the cheek before blushing.

“You’re the best for looking out for you aunt. She is very lucky that she has you making sure she is happy.”

Erin walked over and gave Malcolm a kiss on the head. “She is right buddy, I’m very lucky.”

“I just want you to be happy,” he said shyly. 

“Thanks buddy. We have to get going, but I promise that we will be back soon okay? You help your daddy with mommy and Lily okay? Be the good little helper that I know you are.”

He nodded and gave them both one last hug before going back into the house. 

“And you were worried that they wouldn’t like you. I’m pretty sure that they like you more than me, especially Lily.”

Ella just shook her head, “Please, all they can talk about is you, you are their hero. Lily just was excited that I played dress up with her.”

Erin opened Ella’s door for her then got in the car herself as they made their way to Carm’s. 

 

After a little while of comfortable silence Ella brought up their intertwined hands and gently kissed the back of Erin’s hand. 

“What was that for?”

“Nothing, I just love you.”

“Love you more baby. I’m so glad that we get to spend Valentines Day together.”

“Me too. However, I feel like Carm is going to want to kick us out. We tend to get really mushy and sappy,” the forward said.

“She can deal. She knew what she was doing when she offered up her place. I think she just missed her favorite peasant.”

“How can she not miss me? I’m great.”

Erin laughed and rolled her eyes. “Alright cocky, tone it down a bit.”

“Never, you love it too much.”

“Whatever you say babe.”

They continued to talk and tease each other for the rest of the ride to Carm’s house. 

“Babe, text Carm and tell her we are about 15 minutes away.”

“K. What are the actual plans for tomorrow anyway?”

Erin smirked, “Well, all you get to know is that we are leaving for the concert at 6.”

“Aww come on! You know how I feel about surprises.”

“Exactly,” Erin said as she pulled up to Carm’s, “You absolutely love them as long as they are from me.”

Ella rolled her eyes and got out of the car, “Smart ass.” 

“PEASANT!” Carm yelled as she came outside to greet them. 

The defender came over and wrapped Erin in a hug, then teasingly just gave Ella a pat on the back, she did pulled her back and give her a hug as well after a moment though. 

“I knew you missed me.”

Carm rolled her eyes as they walked inside. “Lies.”

The forward gave her a light shove, but in true Carm fashion she overdramatically fell onto the couch, on top of Erin, and laughing. 

“Hey watch it Carm! I have a girlfriend,” Erin said with a wink, “We gotta keep our side relationship on the down low in front of her.”

“Idiots,” Ella muttered, but she joined them on the couch anyway snuggling into the keeper’s side. 

They all sat up and caught up with each other well into the night before Ella started yawning and Erin decided that it was probably time for bed if she wanted to carry out everything she had planned for them tomorrow. 

“Baby, come on, why don’t we go to bed?”

Ella just sleepily nodded, but made no move to get up. Erin and Carm just rolled their eyes, however Erin had a bit of a loving smile on her face. 

“Oh dude you are so whipped. Look at you staring at your girl like a love sick puppy.”

Erin laughed but got up and picked Ella up bridal style. “Yea, I am, but really can you blame me?”

“I really am so happy for you two.”

“Thanks bud.” Erin said sincerely as she made her way to the guest room with Ella in her arms. 

She set the forward down on the bed gently and then got herself changed before helping a sleepy Ella change into shorts and a tank top. The keeper got into bed and Ella instinctively rolled over to the keeper. “I love you so much baby. Happy Valentines Day my love.”   
She got a sleepy smile in response.

 

The next morning Ella was woken up by the keeper kissing along her neck and jaw. “Mmmm good morning baby. Happy Valentines Day.”

“Happy Valentines Day my perfect girl.” 

“I am far from that, but your compliment is appreciated.” 

Erin rolled on top of Ella to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. “How about we go take a shower,” she said while wiggling her eyebrows, “and then get our day started?”

Ella smirked and pulled off the keeper’s shirt. “Sounds like an excellent way to start the day.” 

“JUST REMEMBER I HAVE TO PAY A WATER BILL!” Carm shouted from down the hall. 

“Moment ruined.” Erin mumbled as she fell on the forward defeated.

Ella let her hands wander a bit, “No, well, not for me anyway. I’ve learned to ignore all of your crazy teammates. We’d never be able to do anything if we let them ruin all our moments.” 

Erin smiled, “Really now? Well then my dear, you are wearing far too many clothes.”

 

“Well now that you two have finally emerged,” Carm said with a smirk, “What are your plans until the concert? Are you going to meet us there or do you need to come back here before it?”

“We are just going to meet you all there.” Erin answered. “We should actually get going so we will see you later bud.”

“Have fun you crazy kids!” Carm teased. 

“Soooo what are we doing?” Ella asked as they got in the car. 

Erin just shook her head, “Surprises my love. Today is all about me spoiling you.”

“Can I at least have a hint?”

“Nope.”

Ella pouted and just stared at the keeper, trying to get her to at least give her a hint. “Come on baby, please. I love you.”

“Nice try pretty girl, but I’m not saying anything.”

Ella crossed her arms and sat back in the seat, she reminded Erin of a small child being told that they couldn’t get a candy bar. “I promise you babe, it will hopefully be worth the surprise. I just really hope that you like it.”

Ella softened up and took the keeper’s hand. “I’m sure I will love it. You’re always so good to me, so I know you must have gone above and beyond today.”

“I love you.”

“Love you more.”

They pulled up to a museum and Ella looked over at her curiously. 

“Well, uh, I thought it would be a good idea to kind of relive our first date. You showed me the history of Chicago, so I thought I would do the same for you here in Canada. It’s a bit of a silly idea I know, but…”

“No buts,” Ella said as she leaned up to kiss her, “this is so amazing and it is such a great idea. I love it babe.” 

“Yea?”

“Of course! Come on teach me about Canada!” Ella said as she started dragging Erin up the stairs. “And this time you don’t even have to study up to try and sound smart,” she teased. 

The date went really well, and Ella was right, Erin didn’t have to do any studying, she impressed Ella with all of the knowledge that she already had. They walked through the museum hand in hand, and Ella listened to Erin explain about so many different things. The forward really did have an amazing time learning all about her girlfriend’s home. 

When they were finished at the museum Erin drove them to a nice little café for lunch so she could give Ella one of her presents, and the forward gave her one as well. 

Since Erin had given Ella her heart necklace for Christmas, Ella only saw it fit to get something like that for Erin. The keeper had shown her so much about love and had changed her world in the most dramatic way, so she wanted to give the keeper something that would symbolize that. She ended up picking out a subtle silver necklace with a lock and key. She explained that she felt like she was locked in her beliefs, nothing would change the way she felt; until she met the keeper. Erin had shown her the key to happiness was following your heart. 

By the end of Ella’s speech the keeper was speechless and a bit teary-eyed. “I don’t know what to say baby. Thank you, I love it, and I love the way you explained it. I love you so much.”

“I love you too. I just wanted to try and let you kind of see what I think about when I’m with you.”

“I love it so much. Will you put it on for me?”

Ella smiled and went around to hook the necklace into place. When she finished Erin didn’t let her get too far. She pulled the forward down into her lap and wrapped her arms around Ella’s waist. “Thank you baby. Do you want to see what I got you?”

“Sure!”

Erin took out a piece of paper from her pocket and laughed at Ella’s confused expression. “It’s a tattoo design, I’m going to get it in Houston sometime.”

“Um, you’re going to have to refresh my memory on Roman Numerals.”

“It’s the day I first met you.” 

“It…you…you want to...me? You want to get a tattoo for me?”

“Of course I do babe.”

“Yea? Because um sort of an idea I had, like a present for both of us, um, I want to get something done on my side, I kind of have an idea, but I really, really wanted you to design it.”

“Really? I would absolutely love to do that!!” 

“Cool. I love you.”

“I love you more.” They shared a sweet kiss and then pulled away. “It is time for us to head out for the concert. You ready? Don’t worry I have both our ‘concert clothes’ well that is what Carm called them, in the car. We are going to pick up Em and change at her place. Sound good?”

“That sounds perfect. Let’s go!”

 

They changed and made their way to where everyone else was meeting for the concert. A lot of the girls were excited to see Ella again and were glad that she made the trip up so that they wouldn’t have to listen to the keeper whine about missing her girl on Valentines Day. 

Everyone had a blast, maybe Carm and Kaylyn had a little too much fun, there were tons of pictures and videos to be used for blackmail later, and some that were actually decent enough to post. On the way back to Carm’s place Emily had sent her the video that she had taken of the keeper and Ella dancing in quite and R rated manor, it was titled ‘Blackmail’ so Erin immediately sent back the one she had of Emily and Carm having a bit of a dance as well. 

“What’s so funny babe?” 

“Emily sent me that video of us dancing together calling it blackmail, but I sent her back the one of her and Carm, so I think we are in the clear.”

“You know that would be a fun rumor to start. Em is always giving you and I and also Carm and I shit on social media that could be fun to have a rumor like that fly.”

“What do you mean she gives you and Carm shit?”

Ella shrugged, “Well she knows I don’t want to be out yet, so if she kind of trolls the stuff that I post about you, she does it when I post about Carm as well so that fans and stuff don’t get too suspicious.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

Ella looked over at the keeper curiously, “What?”

Erin just shook her head, “Nothing, no big deal.”

“Baby, please tell me.” Ella said as she intertwined their hands.

“It’s just silly, and I would feel dumb even saying it.”

“Are you upset that people might think that it’s Carm and I?”

Erin nodded her head sheepishly. “I told you it was silly.”

“Hey,” Ella said as she kissed the keeper’s cheek, “if it’s bothering you, I don’t care what it is, it will never be ‘silly’ okay? I will definitely tell Em not to give people ideas about Carm and I okay?”

“But what if they realize it’s me?”

Ella shrugged, “Then they figure it out. I’m not Melissa, remember? If they figure it out then they figure it out. I don’t want to come out, but I’m not hiding either. Just kind of whatever happens, happens baby.”

“You are the most amazing person Ella. I love you so much.”

“I love you more. One of these days I’ll help you overcome this social media reserve you have and…why are we at a hotel? I thought we were going back to Carm’s.”

Erin paid the taxi driver and got out of the car to lead Ella into the hotel. “I figured Carm wouldn’t want us, um, expressing our love, if, um, that were to happen, with her right next door so I got us a room. Don’t worry I have a bag and stuff for you.”

Ella smiled and kissed her girl, and then she smirked and walked them to the elevator. “You are the absolute best, and the expressing part is definitely going to be happening baby. I have to thank you for being the absolute best girlfriend in the entire world.” 

“Only for you my love.”

When they stepped into the elevator Ella backed the keeper up against the wall and slid her hands under her shirt, thankfully they were the only ones there, “I hope you still have enough energy keeper, I have a lot to thank you for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment suggestions as to what to do next either in the comments or via tumblr my friends!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter than normal, but I kind of got writers block. I wanted to get something out to y'all because I have finals next week so I probably won't be posting another chapter until after those are finished. Thanks for all the love :)

Ella had a couple more days in Canada before she would return to the states, so she wanted to get her tattoo done while she was up there. She had given Erin the idea that she came up with of the tree with the words she wanted on it. She had made an appointment with the artist that had done Erin’s tattoos, so now she was just waiting on Erin to finish the design. 

“Hey babe,” Ella said as she walked in to Erin’s little studio, “How is it coming along?”

Erin turned around with a smile, “I think I’m just about done. Want to see it?”

“Absolutely,” the forward said with a grin as she quickly walked over to where Erin was sitting with her sketchbook. 

The keeper handed her book over with a nervous smile, she really wanted the piece to be exactly what Ella wanted, and it was a bit of pressure to get it all just right. Sure Ella gave her some liberty on the design, but she still wanted the forward to absolutely love it. 

Ella was speechless. It was exactly how she wanted it; it was perfect. 

Erin misunderstood the silence and immediately started to back track. “It’s okay if you don’t like it. Just tell me what I need to change. I want this to be perfect for you. Babe you can tell me if you don’t---Mmm”

Ella cut off the rambling keeper with a kiss. “It is absolutely perfect. I love it so much. This is way better than anything that I could have thought of myself. It’s perfect.”

“Yea?” Erin asked shyly. 

The forward set the sketchbook on the table and sat down on Erin’s lap. “Yea. It is perfect.”

“You aren’t just saying that. Because it won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t like it.”

Ella leaned over and gave her another kiss. “Shut up you dork. I love it, and I’m not just saying it. I cannot wait to get this done tomorrow. I am so excited for you to be there with me as I get this done.”

“Are you sure you are okay with me designing this? I just can’t help thinking, that um…well…what if, uh…”

“What if what baby?”

Erin looked down, ashamed of even having that the thought that she was about to voice had even crossed her mind. “Well, like, if…um…what if we didn’t work out? You might regret the tattoo and I don’t want you to regret it.”

“Hey, never, ever, would I regret getting a tattoo that was important to me. I told Cambria that one day I wanted to marry you. I do want that, because I love you so much and I can’t see myself with anyone but you, but I can’t know what the future holds. If something were to happen, I still wouldn’t regret this because I would remember this moment, this moment where you showed me the perfect tattoo, and I would smile at the memory.”

Now it was Erin’s turn to be speechless. When she voiced her thought, Ella could have easily turned it into a fight, but instead her girl realized where her reserves were coming from.

“I love you,” the forward said

“I love you more. I love you so much.” 

“I know, now finish up so that we can watch a movie. I need to be all rested for tomorrow. This will probably take about 3 hours right?”

Erin looked back to her design, “Yea probably between 3 and 4 hours.” Erin gave her a kiss to the cheek. “Go pick out a movie, grab Max, and I’ll finish this up and join you in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Ella said with a smile, “We’ll be waiting.”

Erin laughed as Ella bounded out of the room with a goofy smile on her face. 

 

“Baby, time to get up! We have to get you tatted up!”

Ella rolled over and cuddled back into Erin’s side, “I think you’re more excited than I am about this.”

“You love it just as much as me and you know it. Now come on! Get up!”

Ella rolled away with a groan, “Fine, I’m up, I’m up. What are you making me for breakfast? I can’t go on an empty stomach or I will probably pass out.”

Erin rolled her eyes at her demanding girl, “I’ll go make something, you go take a shower and get ready okay?”

“Thanks babe, you’re the best!”

“I know I am, now go shower before I have to fight the urge to join you and we miss your appointment.”

Ella laughed and made her way to the bathroom as Erin got up and wandered into the kitchen after she let Max out.

The keeper was humming along to her music when Ella came out in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans when Erin finished making them breakfast. 

“Perfect timing babe. Just finished up the pancakes. I figured you would need a bit of a boost today, so I may have slipped in some chocolate chips.”

Ella clapped happily and gave the keeper a kiss on the cheek. “You are the best! Thank you.”

“Anything for my girl. Now eat up, don’t want all my hard work slaving away over the skillet to go to waste.”

Ella rolled her eyes, “Alright, tone it down drama queen. What time are we leaving here? Also these are fantastic babe.”  
“Thank you, and we are probably leaving here in about 30 minutes. Did you have anything you needed to get done before we go? You are probably not going to want to move for a while after you get it done. Your entire side will probably be a bit tender and sore.”

Ella nodded as Erin told her when they were leaving, and when the keeper was finished she spoke up. “No I don’t need to get anything else done, I have you to wait on me” she finished with a cheeky smile.

Erin laughed and rolled her eyes, “Alight, I’m not even gonna try to argue with that because we both know that that is exactly what is going to happen.”

Ella took both of their empty plates, gave Erin a quick kiss, and set the dishes in the sink. 

“Okay go get ready so we can head out,” Ella said. “I’ll be cuddling with Max until you are ready.”

 

Ella and Erin entered the tattoo parlor and Ella was slightly intimidated. It had a bit of a darker feel to it, but it was still had some classy undertones to it. She was lost in looking around the place when she heard a deep booming voice.

“ERIN! My favorite girl! What piece are we doing today on ya?”

Ella turned to see her girlfriend embracing a very large man.

“Not me today Todd, my girlfriend, Ella.”

Ella walked over and held out her hand for the man, Todd, to shake. “Nice to meet you.”

Todd just laughed and pulled her in for a hug, “You weren’t kidding when you said you got someone special! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Erin has told me so much about you!”

Ella just smiled as Erin was blushing slightly.

“Oh she must be something special if she has got you blushing over there kiddo!”

“Yea, I guess she’s alright.” Erin teased. 

“Asshole.” Ella muttered

Todd just laughed in his booming voice, “She is perfect for you kiddo. Throws all that shit right back in your face. Glad you found someone that can keep up with you. Enough small talk though, you booked a big chunk of time for your girl so let’s see that piece you drew and get to work!”

Erin pulled the sketch out of her bag and handed it over to Todd. “Well, this is certainly one of the most beautiful pieces I have seen. You draw this kid?”

Erin nodded, “Yea, it was all Ella’s idea though. She told me kind of what she wanted and I just ran with it. It’s a really fantastic idea isn’t it?”

Todd nodded, “You mind if I just transfer it? I don’t think it needs anything touched up or anything. I keep telling you that after your soccer career you need to come here and be one of the artists.”

“Yea sure, if you don’t think it needs anything. And I will give you the same answer as I always do. I’ll think about it.”

Todd rolled his eyes and nodded to the room in back, “You can go on in, it will just be a couple minutes. I trust you in there with the equipment.”

“Awesome, see ya in a few.”

They walked into the room and Ella sat down on the chair. “I’m kind of nervous. I mean since this isn’t my first tattoo I at least know what kind of pain it is, but this is like my first big piece, I’ve never really had to test my endurance getting one.”

“You’ll be okay baby. I’ll hold your hand for you and keep you distracted. But if you do ever need a break just let Todd know okay? He won’t mind stopping for a bit if you are having some trouble.”

Ella nodded right as Todd walked in. 

“You ready Ella?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess,” she answered confidently.

“Alright then! Let’s get going!”

Ella pulled off her t-shirt and laid down on her side, “Okay creep, quite staring,” she joked at Erin.

“Ha-ha, you’re so funny. Nothing I haven’t seen before anyway.”

“ERIN!” 

“What?” the keeper asked innocently.

“You’re a dumbass.”

“Yea but I’m your dumbass, so who is really the dumbass, hmm?”

“Both of you idiots.” Todd chimed in. “Now quit making her laugh so I can get started.”

Erin smiled and brought Ella’s hand up for a kiss. 

It worked out that about every half hour Ella had to stop and take a short break. Erin made sure to talk to her and keep her distracted as Todd worked on the tattoo. They talked about the upcoming Dash season, about some of the Canadian National team shenanigans that went on, how Ella’s family was doing, and other little things like that. 

Todd did his best not to eavesdrop on the couple, but he was right there so it’s not like he could really help it. He just smiled at how smitten they both seemed to be with each other. Erin would pop into the shop every so often when she had some time off, and when she came back from Chicago he could tell that something had changed. When he asked her she didn’t hesitate to tell him all about this girl that she had met. 

“Alright Ella, you’re all finished up! Let me get you hooked up with some stuff to keep everything all good to go and then I’ll let you ladies get out of here and enjoy the rest of your time together.”

Ella stood up and looked at the piece in the mirror. “Wow. This is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much, it’s beautiful.”

Todd chuckled, “All I did was repeatedly stab you with a needle, thank your girlfriend for the beautiful design.” 

Erin had gotten up to get a better look as well. “You like it?”

Ella smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “I love it.”

“Good. I can’t wait for you to show your family. I bet your mom is going to cry when you explain it.”

Ella laughed and nodded. “Yea, I’m sure she will. The little munchkins will be so in love with it too. The love to just trace my other ones when they can. I’m sure they will be in awe of this one.” 

“Everyone is going to love it. Do you want to post a picture of it? I’ll take it for you.”

Ella just shook her head as Todd came back in to cover the tattoo. “Nah, I want to just keep this for us for a little bit.”

“That sounds great too.”

Once the tattoo was all covered up and Todd went over the proper care for it they made their way across the street to get some food.

“Your side is going to be killing you tomorrow. I hope you are okay to fly home the next day.”

Ella just waved her off. “I’m sure I will be fine. Now, let’s go home and cuddle with Max.”

“Sounds like a good plan baby.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient in waiting for me to update :)

The next day flew by and neither girl wanted their time together to come to an end, but both knew that it was inevitable. They spent their last day cuddled on the couch watching movies with Max; Ella’s side wasn’t really up for doing too physical. Besides, that is what she would have wanted to do with the keeper anyway. The feeling of Erin holding her, listening to the keeper’s heartbeat, it was one of Ella’s favorite places to be. 

When the next day came the drive to the airport was mostly silent. Erin was quietly singing along to the radio, and Ella was just admired the keepers voice and would occasionally bring their intertwined hands up for a kiss. 

They pulled up and Erin walked Ella as far as she could into the airport. 

“Have fun for the rest of your time in Colorado baby.”

“I will. I’ll miss you. I don’t want to wait until pre-season to be with you again.”

Erin wrapped the forward in a tight embrace. “I know baby, I hate that we have to go that long too, but you’ll go down to Houston and figure the house out with Max so that when I get home it will be all ready.”

Ella smiled and pulled back from the embrace. “I like that.”

“Like what?”

“Home.”

Erin smiled, “Yea, I do too.”

“Love you.”

“Love you more. Let me know when you land. We can still Skype tonight if you aren’t too tired.”

Ella got on her toes to give Erin a kiss. “Never would be too tired to talk to you.”

Erin just laughed and rolled her eyes, decided it would be best to not bring up all of the times they had Skyped and Ella was asleep within the first five minutes. “Good. Then I will talk to you when you land. I left some more surprises on your iPad, but promise no peeking until you get back to Colorado.”

“Fine I promise. I love you.”

“Love you more babe.”

With a final hug and kiss goodbye they parted ways until after Erin would return from Cyprus. 

Ella slept for most of the plane ride; she had the playlist Erin had made her last trip to sooth her to sleep. 

When she got back and settled in she let Erin know that she was back safe and sound. A few minutes later her laptop rang out signaling a Skype call.

“Hey baby, was the flight okay?”

“Yea it wasn’t too bad. I slept for most of it thanks to that playlist you made me a while ago. It’s just so relaxing and it helps me feel like I’m close to you.”

Erin smiled. “I’m glad it makes you feel that way. I had a lot of fun making it for you. You sleepy?” the keeper asked as Ella started to yawn.

“Yea, a bit.”

“Why don’t you take a nap? I’ll sing if you want me to.”

“Yes please,” the forward mumbled as she snuggled up in her bed.

It wasn’t long until Ella was fast asleep and Erin was smiling at her girl before disconnecting the call. 

 

“Hey babe!”

“Hey there. You guys get settled in okay? Is Max adjusting okay? He isn’t usually the best with these types of things.” Erin asked through the computer.

Ella nodded and stood up with her laptop, “We did! Max loves his new home. Do you want a tour?”

“Absolutely! I can’t wait to be there to see it all in person next week.” 

“Soon baby, soon. So, where do you want me to start?”

“Anywhere you want, just save our room for last,” she finished with a wink. 

Ella laughed and rolled her eyes. “Sure babe. So we’ve got the kitchen here...”

After the tour of the house the chatted for a bit before Erin had to leave for training. 

“Okay Max! Come here boy, we gotta get Momma’s surprise ready!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella tried her best to keep her focus at practice, but it was difficult considering Erin would be back tonight. 

Before the expansion draft even happened Erin and Ella made Randy aware of their relationship. They knew that as professionals they needed to tell him, and Randy told them that their relationship wouldn’t play a factor in selecting Ella for the draft, they had planned on trying to get the forward to Houston any way that they could. Randy knew of Ella’s talent and heart for the game and he wanted to bring that to Houston. He told them that as long as they keep it professional on the field he was okay with them being together. 

“Ella! Focus up! We all know your girl is coming home today, but I need your mind here!” Randy teased. 

“Sorry coach!” 

Ella knew he was teasing, a lot of the girls on the team teased her as well, but she knew it was all in good fun. 

The forward tried her best to focus up for the rest of practice, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere. 

“Alright ladies bring it in,” Randy said to round the girls up for the end of practice talk he usually gives. “Great job today ladies. I know I’m saying this a lot, but I’m excited to get the season started to see all your hard work. I’ll keep this short because I know Ella is dying to take Max and get out of here,” everyone let out a bit of a laugh before Randy continued, “you all have the day off tomorrow, so use it to your advantage because we are going to really start getting after it. Good job today, now go on Ella, and go get our keeper.”

Ella laughed, she was glad that the environment in Houston allowed her to be open about her relationship with the keeper. She went to the locker room, Max in tow, and quickly gathered her things up. After a few teasing remarks from her teammates she was on her way, with Max, to the airport to pick up Erin.

 

Erin had gotten her bags and was looking around the arrivals gate for Ella. She made her way across the floor until she spotted the forward and her pup. As cliché as it was, the sight made Erin stop in her tracks; it had been far too long since she had seen Ella in person and not through a phone or computer screen. 

Once Erin was able to function again she quickly ran over to Ella and Max and wrapped them in her arms. 

“God, I missed you two so much. That was way too long without being together. We aren’t leaving the house at all tomorrow.”

Ella laughed against the keeper’s neck, but tightened her hold around her waist. “I love you.”

“Love you more.”

Max let out a bark from between their bodies causing them to pull back and laugh at the now hyper pup. 

“Hi buddy! Did you miss me?” Erin said as she took the pup from Ella, “Because I missed you soooo much.” 

Max just let out another bark and gave Erin a few kisses before settling against the keeper with a yawn. 

“Aww buddy, you were so excited you wore yourself out didn’t you.”

Ella just smiled at the little reunion happening. “You and Max and so cute.”

Erin just smiled down at the pup. “I don’t know, you’re pretty cute with him, even if you break rules and take him on the field with you.”

“Hey!” Ella cried indignantly, “I have never read a sign that says he can’t be there.”

Erin laughed, picked up her bag, and gave Ella a kiss on the forehead. “Doesn’t mean that there isn’t one there.”

Ella just rolled her eyes and picked up Erin’s other bag. “Let’s go home you goof.”

Erin put her arm around Ella as they made their way to the forward’s car. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that; our home.” 

“Well let’s go get you all moved in then!”

 

Erin walked in to the house and it took her breath away. Sure it wasn’t the best of houses, but it was the best they could do on their budget, and Ella had done an excellent job of putting it all together. 

“Babe, this is so great. You did an amazing job.”

Ella smiled and motioned for Erin to follow her. “I’ve got a surprise for you, I may have left out a room on the tour I gave you.”

Erin clapped happily, “Well show me!!”

Ella moved to cover the keeper’s eyes, “No peeking.”

They walked into a little office space, but Ella had converted it into a bit of a creative space for them. It was filled with Erin’s art supplies that she had shipped, and a couple of new things that Ella had bought for her. It also held their guitars and a keyboard. 

“You ready?”

Erin just nodded excitedly.

Ella removed her hands and watched as Erin looked around the room with a massive smile on her face.

“This is so cool babe! I love it so much! How did you do…did you buy me new stuff?”

“Yea, I thought this would be a cool room for us, or anyone really, to just come and kind of chill out in. Like yours and Carm’s little creative corner you had in Chicago.”

“This is so perfect babe. I can’t wait to get all the girls over here to hang out in here. You are so amazing for thinking about doing this.”

“We can have a team bonding thing before the season starts. How does that sound?”

“Sounds absolutely amazing. Now,” the keeper smirked mischievously, “how about you show me that bedroom of ours.”

 

The next day they just hung around the house watching moves and getting Erin all settled in. Erin wanted to christen the new house with Ella, but the forward vetoed the idea since they had practice the next day. 

 

“Good morning ladies!” Randy said as they huddled before practice, “Now that we have all our players, maybe Ella can keep some focus.” The rest of the girls chuckled while Ella slightly blushed. “Let’s get after it today, season starts in less than a month so it’s starting to be that crunch time.”

The entire team noticed how focused the forward was today. Randy smiled to himself, he knew that the relationship between his keeper and Ella would not be completely professional, it would be extremely hard to show no signs of it, but he was pleased with how well they seemed to feed off each other. He could see that the girls on the team fed off their positive energy as well. He knew that he needed to pick a captain soon, and now that Erin was here his suspicions were confirmed that she would be a good candidate as well as the couple other he had in mind. 

“Excellent job today ladies. I can see that we are all started to click and find out where we work together. This just excites me even more for the season to start. Make sure you all are taking care of your bodies, I know that on the budgets you have it isn’t always easy, but just make sure you do your best. Rest up and let’s get back at it tomorrow.”

“Hey coach?” Erin asked, “Can I make an announcement?”

“Sure thing.”

“So, Ella surprised me with a little bit of an art room, so I thought that it would be a great idea for a kind of team bonding night to just get a bit creative and hang out and get to know each other. So on our day off on Thursday next week, you are all invited over, it’s an all day thing so we hope to see you all there.”

“Ew, ‘we’ you are such a couple.” Bianca joked when Erin finished.

Erin just laughed and rolled her eyes before shoving her fellow keeper lightly. “I expect you to be there for sure now B.”

“Oh I will definitely be there.”

There were murmurs of agreement as well so Ella and Erin smiled at their first official new house party. 

On the way home from practice Ella interrupted the keeper’s singing. “This means we have to get enough food and drinks for the entire team, to last all day.”

Erin just shrugged, “It will be worth it. I can feel something special with these girls.” 

Ella just smiled, she could feel it too.


	20. Chapter 20

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Ella groaned and rolled over, “We don’t have training until 2:30 today, why are you waking me up this early on my birthday?!” 

Erin laughed and cuddled to Ella. “I’m not waking you up, well I mean I am, but it’s not early. I turned off your alarm, it’s like 10:30 babe.”

“10:30! Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?!”

Erin just rolled her eyes, “You don’t want to wake up, and you do want to wake up, which is it babe.”

Ella just laughed, “Well, with it being my birthday and all, I wanted to wake up next to you, but it appears you had different plans.”

Erin smiled and leaned down to give the forward a kiss, “Happy Birthday baby.”

Ella smiled back after the kiss broke, “I love you.”

“You don’t even know what I got you yet, you could totally change your mind about that. I mean I do have a lot of potential to royally screw up your birthday.” Erin teased.

Ella swatted at the keeper, “There is no way you could screw it up. I promise I will love what ever it is that happens today.”

“Well,” Erin started, “is beginning with your favorite breakfast in bed a good start?”

“Of course it is, but only if you are going to be staying in here with me.” 

Erin smiled and hopped off the bed to go retrieve the tray she had set down in the hallway. 

“Now, if we didn’t have to go to training later, I would have totally made you chocolate chip pancakes, but I figured your favorite breakfast burrito might not come back to bite us in the ass like pancakes would.”

Ella smiled at the arrangement of food in front of her. Erin had made them each a breakfast burrito with all of their favorite things in it; there was a bowl of strawberries, Ella’s favorite, their drinks, and a beautiful pink rose. “This is perfect babe. I love it. Thank you for making my favorites.”

“You’re welcome. You know I love to spoil you, and today is one of the days that you can’t complain about it.” 

Ella just laughed and started eating her breakfast. “So what are our plans for the day?”

“Well, I thought we could just hang out and have a bit of a lazy morning, then after training I made a reservation for us at that place downtown that you have been wanting to try. If we had the day off I would have planned something much better, but I had to work around training.”

“Don’t worry about it babe, anything you do is always perfect. Now we can officially start our lazy morning when you take our dishes away and then come back to bed and cuddle me.”

Erin leaned over and kissed the forward’s cheek, “As you wish my dear.” 

Ella smiled and leaned back into the pillows and waited for Erin to come back in. 

When the keeper returned, she had a bit of a shit-eating grin on her face. 

“What did you do?” Ella asked.

“Now why would you assume that I have done something?”

“Because you left this room like a normal human being, and now you have returned, and you look like your are up to something.”

Erin smiled and gave Ella a kiss; “I’m always up to something.” 

“So what’s with the smile then?”

Erin brought a small present out from behind her back. “Fine, I was up to something, well, not really up to something, but I did need to go get your first present. Happy Birthday.”

Ella smiled and reached out for the gift. 

“Not so fast!” the keeper said as she pulled the gift out of Ella’s reach. “Wipe that pout off your face, I just need to warn you that you have more, um, ‘real’ presents later today.”

“Shut up, all presents are ‘real’ presents. Now,” the forward said as she held out her hand for the small package, “present please.”

Erin just laughed and handed over the gift. 

Ella smiled, tore off the wrapping, and then opened the box to find a note, so she read it aloud, “IOU one hand painted piece of artwork of either your choosing, or, with your permission, my own idea.” The forward smiled and leaned over to give her girl a kiss. “Thank you babe! I love it!”

The keep smiled, but looked down nervously, “I wanted to actually be able to give you a piece, but I couldn’t decide on what to do.”

“This is just as great. I promise. Now the birthday girl wants to take Max on a walk before practice with you. So let’s go.”

“As you wish my dear.”

 

They got dressed and then hooked Max up to his leash before heading down the path that would lead them to the small park that was a couple blocks away. 

Ella had Max’s leash in one hand, while the other was wrapped around the keeper’s arm. There wasn’t anyone else at the small park when they reached it, so they figured it was okay to unhook Max and let him just run around for a little while. The two found a spot on the grass and sat down to watch the pup play for a bit.

“This is probably my best birthday ever.”

“It isn’t even noon yet? How can you be so sure?” the keeper asked.

“Because I’m with you.”

Erin leaned over to kiss her, “I thought I was the cheesy romantic one?”

Ella just shrugged and kissed her again, “It’s my birthday so I get to be cheesy today.”

“Whatever you want babe.”

“I want this,” the forward said as she sat on Erin’s lap, her back resting against the keeper’s front, “right here. You, me, Max, and this feeling of right now.”

Erin had no words, she felt the exact same, but she didn’t know how to express it, so she just ended up pressing her lips to Ella’s head. 

It was as if Max knew that they were having a moment because he calmed down and went back over to snuggle up in Ella’s lap. They both smiled and sat there for a minute just trying to savor the moment. 

They hung out in the park for a while just chatting about wherever the conversation led. Ella’s phone had gone off signaling a few texts, but she had ignored them until later, right now she just wanted to be with Erin. However, when she saw her sister calling and requesting to face time, she knew that it was most likely her nieces calling to wish her a happy birthday so she answered and talked to them for a little while. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While the forward was distracted, Erin pulled out her phone and shot off a text to the team, excluding Ella of course; ‘The plan is a go, remember; you miss, you’re out.’

Earlier in the week, Erin had been talking to Bianca and the younger keeper suggested that they play some sort of prank on Ella at practice the day of her birthday. So naturally Erin, being the prankster that she was, and Bianca came up with the idea that anytime the forward had her back to someone else and was more than 30 yards away, they got to take a shot at Ella’s butt with the ball. The person that had the most hits would win. If you missed, you were done though; you couldn’t try anymore.

The keepers made sure a few days ago that Randy was aware that there would be some sort of pranking shenanigans happening, but they had told him that they weren’t quiet sure what they would be doing yet, and then Randy just chuckled and let them know that as long as it wouldn’t be too much a disturbance and no one would get hurt they were clear to do whatever. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella had gotten up to talk to her nieces, but she came back over, sat down once again on the keeper’s lap, and held the phone up so that Anaiah and Cambria could see the keeper. 

“Hi Aunty Erin!” the both yelled back with massive smiles. 

“Hey cuties!”

“It’s Aunty Ella’s birthday!” Cambria said.

“I know! Did you and your sister call to tell her happy birthday?”

“Mmhmm! Mommy thought she would like that.”

“Well I’m sure she did. I bet you two made her very happy today.”

Both girls smiled back at Erin. The keeper could tell that her praise of them really did mean a lot to them. Ella, on the other hand, was too busy observing the keeper and how she interacted with her nieces. It made her fall in love with Erin even more. 

“Did you get Aunt Ella a good present?” Anaiah asked.

“I did! But I’m giving it to her later tonight, so it’s still a secret.”

They all chatted for a bit longer about how Anaiah and Cambria were doing and what they had been up to when the keeper’s alarm on her phone went off signaling they had to head back to the house to get ready for practice. 

They said their goodbyes and Erin promised she would see them when they played Chicago next. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once at practice, Ella felt like the universe was conspiring against her. She kept getting hit with soccer balls, and had plenty more of them whiz by her. The forward was pretty sure that if practice kept going this way that she would have a permanent mark on her butt. As practice went on, the amount of times she had been hit was too many to count, but it was slowing down. 

While Ella was adorably frustrated with how many times she had gotten hit, the girls were having a blast with their little game. Towards the end of practice only a few people were left in the game: Erin, Bianca, Kealia, Becky, and Ari. They were arguably some of the most competitive people on the team as well, so they were all trying to win. When Ella was turned around talking to Brittany, Ari, Becky, and Kealia lined up shots. Once Becky and Kealia’s shots missed wide and Ari’s had hit target, they turned around laughing. Randy just shot them an amused look and them motioned for them to get back to practice. 

Practice ended with it being a battle of the keepers, so while Ella was talking with Becky, Erin and Bianca lined up their shots. Since practice was over and they were tied, they agreed that the person that hit closest, or on target, would win. 

Just as they kicked, Ella turned around.

“Fuck,” Erin whispered as she watched her ball hit Ella in the stomach and Bianca’s ball just miss her. 

“You two! You have been the ones that have been doing this to me all practice!”

Erin slowly made her way over to her girlfriend. “Baby…”

“Oh, no. You do not get to ‘baby’ me. You are in trouble. And you,” she said pointing to the other keeper, “shame on you for letting her convince you to take part in this. You weirdos and your keeper bond.” 

‘You’re right,” Bianca said, “Next time I won’t let her corrupt me. Oh, and Happy Birthday!” she finished as she ran to the locker room with a wink. 

Ella whipped her head back to Erin as it clicked in her mind. “Really? This is all an elaborate birthday prank thing? You suck,” she finished as she walked away from the keeper angrily. 

“No baby, come back here please. I’m sorry. I just thought it would be funny. This team loves you and we were just having fun. I’m sorry baby please don’t be mad. It’s your birthday still and I have a really good night, well I hope it’s good, planned out and I didn’t mean to upset you or anything. You know that I love you. I love you so much baby. I’m so sorry that I—“

Ella turned around with a smiled on her face trying to hold back laughter. 

“Okay I see. Payback. You lil shit I thought you were really pissed off at me! I thought I ruined your birthday!” 

Ella wrapped her arm around Erin’s waist as they made their way to the locker room. “Nah, I just needed to get back at you. I like to see you squirm.”

“Yea you do,” the keeper replied with a wink and a smirk.

Ella laughed and shoved the keeper off her, “Totally not what a meant!” 

“I know.”

Ella just rolled her eyes and followed the keeper into the locker room; she couldn’t wait to find out what the rest of the day had in store for her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Babe,” Ella said as she walked out of the room in her dress, “Is this okay for tonight?”

“I…uh…yea…yea perfect. You look, wow.”

Ella smiled, “Thank you. You are looking quite dapper yourself.”

Erin slowly made her way over to the forward; she was still a bit in awe of how amazing she looked. “You are so beautiful. How in the world did I get so lucky?” she asked rhetorically. 

Ella just blushed, “Even after being with you for 9 months you still make me blush,” she whispered. 

The keeper leaned down for a kiss. “I hope I never stop being able to make you blush.”

“I love you.”

“Love you more. Now we have to get going so that we will make our reservations.”

Ella had been wanting to try the new restaurant downtown for quite some time, but their schedules hadn’t really allowed much time until now, so the forward was excited. 

The place was absolutely fantastic. The food was great, the company was great, and the couple of little presents Erin had brought for her to open were great. As the night was winding down and they were eating dessert, Erin brought out her phone to take a picture. “Hey, smile babe.”

“Send that to me?” Ella asked after the keeper showed her the picture. 

“Sure. Now how about we finish this up and head back home? I still have a couple of surprises there for you. Well, at least I hope I do, Nikki and Brittany were supposed to bring them over while we were out because I know you like to snoop around for presents, and I wasn’t about to let you spoil the surprise.”

“Sounds good to me. I love you, thank you for always wanting to spoil me.”

Erin leaned in and kissed the forward. “I love you too, and you know I love spoiling you.”

As they got closer to the house Erin was starting to get giddy. 

“Shouldn’t I be the one that is excited?” the forward asked. 

“Shut up, I’m excited to give you your presents.”

“I’m sure I will love them. I mean I guess you did alright with all of the other birthday stuff you had planned out today.”

“I did alright? Alright?”

Ella just laughed at the keeper, “You did amazing, now come on,” she said as they pulled up to the house.

“Wait wait wait! I have to go make sure that it is all ready to go. Just wait on the front steps and I will call out to you when it is all set up.”

“Okay!” Ella exclaimed excitedly. 

When Erin walked into the house she let the smirk take over her face. “Alright, you guys know what you’re doing?”

“Of course we do,” Nikki said as she rolled her eyes, “We shout surprise, it’s not like it’s a complicated thing.”

“Whatever. Just turn the lights off sassy.”

They turned off the lights and then Erin shouted for Ella to come in. 

When she came through the door Nikki flipped on the lights and everyone shouted out. Ella was smiling at all of her teammates that were in the living room; she didn’t notice Erin walking towards her.

A second too late is when the forward saw the pie tin full of whipped cream coming right at her.

“ERIN!” 

“Happy Birthday!”

“You suck! You’re lucky I love you, you asshole.” She said as she took the paper towels from Brittany to wipe off her face.

“I love you too baby, now here is your real present.”

Erin went around the corner and came back out with a banjo. Specifically the banjo Ella had spent 20 minutes starting at the last time they had gone to the music story down the street. 

“You…how…when did you…”

Everyone just laughed and Erin walked over to a speechless Ella. “I got it last week when you went out to lunch with Nikki. You like?”

“I love it! Thank you so much! I know that this isn’t really in our budget, but I love it so much.”

Erin leaned in for a kiss, “Don’t worry about a ‘budget,’ your smile is worth it.”

That comment earned about a lifetime of teasing from their teammates. They all hung around for a little while, but Ella wanted some alone time with the keeper. Normally she was subtle about telling their teammates to leave, some of them were often over at the house for the creative room, but tonight was her birthday, and why not give them more ammunition for teasing.

“Alright everyone, thank you all for coming and hanging out, but I need to thank my wonderful girlfriend for an amazing birthday, so I suggest you all leave before you see things that will scar you for life.”

There were a lot of teasing remarks thrown out, but everyone did end up clearing out pretty quickly. 

“You know they are never going to let you forget that right?”

Ella smiled as she straddled the keeper on the couch, “I don’t care. I need to thank you for today.”

Erin smirked and picked up Ella as she made her way to their room. She gently laid the forward down on their bed and looked at her lovingly, then hungrily. “Today is all about you baby.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's shorter than normal, but I hit such a block with how to write this one. I promise the next chapter will make up for it! I'm going to try and update weekly, but my new semester is starting up tomorrow, so it may take a few days to figure out when I will have time to write.

Ella smirked and pocketed her phone. Cara and Megan had both come through wonderfully with the forward’s request for an embarrassing childhood photo of her girlfriend. She ended up using the one Cara sent her for her part of the bet she had going on with the keeper and one of her friends from back home. 

The bet basically stated that if Ella didn’t score in the first game of the season then Erin got to post whatever picture she had of Ella, if Erin didn’t get a shut out then Ella got to post the picture she just received from Cara, and if both those things did happen, then Erin’s friend had to post the picture that Erin had picked out for them. 

They had a game on Wednesday, so it was promised that whatever the result was, they would put up the pictures on Thursday as a throwback. 

“Soooo,” Erin said as she walked into the room with a shit-eating grin, “What picture did you find? Because your brother is officially my favorite person right now for the one he dug up of you.”

Ella just smirked right back at the keeper, “Oh I’m not even showing you until after the game. Cara came through big time for me though.”

“Cara? You got Cara involved?!”

Ella just laughed, “You asked my brother! It’s only fair that I get to ask your sister for one.”

“Cara has some really, really, really, bad ones though!”

Ella just smiled as the keeper flopped down on the bed and groaned in agony. The forward shifted over so that she was on top of the keeper. “Don’t worry, you are the most handsome little boy there is.”

Immediately Erin knew what picture Ella was talking about. “She did not! I can’t believe she send you that one! I hate her so much.”

Ella quickly gave Erin a kiss, “You don’t hate her, and I’m sure Ty sent you one that is equally as awful.”

“Yea, you’re right. Want to take Max on a walk? Maybe hang out in the park for a little bit?”

Ella knew that recently the keeper was going to the park a lot. She figured it was because Erin was more of a feelings person and the open space helped her organize her thoughts; she usually had a notebook with her when she went. Ella had looked into the heart math stuff that she knew that Erin did, but it just didn’t really make sense to her, so she just let her girl do her thing.

“Yea sure. That sounds like a great idea.”

They got ready and held hands on the way to the park with Max happily walking ahead of them exploring as much as his leash would allow. 

Once they reached the park Ella let Max off the leash and watched him as he ran around a bit. He never strayed too far, so she knew she didn’t really have to keep too much on an eye on him, but Erin had immediately taken out a notebook, so she figured she would let the keeper have some time to herself. 

Ella was busy watching Max chase around a bird, so she jumped a bit when she felt Erin’s arms wrap around her waist. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you babe.”

Ella turned her head to give her a quick kiss, “No worries.”

“You’re the best you, know that right?”

Ella turned in the keeper’s arms and looked up at her with a cheeky smile, “Yea, I do, but I love it when you tell me why.”

Erin just laughed before taking on a slightly more serious tone. “Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself. You always know when I need space with my thoughts, or if I need you near by when I’m stuck in my head. One of the many, many things I love about you.”

“I love you too. However,” Ella said trying to lighten the mood a bit, “depending on which picture Ty sent you that could change,” she teased.

“You and I both know that is a lie.”

“Yea, but Ty will be in trouble.”

“Well, you better score then.” 

“I guess so. Do you want to head back and get something to eat, or do you want to spend a little more time here?”

“Let’s head home, we can pick something up on the way.”

Ella smiled and held out her hand for the keeper, “Sounds good.”

They picked up some food on their way home, ate and then got ready for the light training that they had scheduled for later in the afternoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella sighed and took another look at the final score. 2-0. She was disappointed because they had been clicking so well all game, but they just couldn’t get anything in the back of the net. 

They didn’t let that keep then down for too long though, a few of the fans, even though Houston was the away team, wanted some pictures and autographs so that lifted their spirits a bit. 

“Good game baby.” Erin said once they were back on the bus to the hotel.

Ella just shrugged, “Not that good since we didn’t win. But I can feel the progress that is happening.”

Erin nodded, “That’s true. And we both knew when we came that this was going to be working to build something.”

Ella leaned on the keeper’s shoulder. “It’s getting there. I can feel it. I just wish that we could score. Everything else is falling into place, except us finding the back of the net.”

Erin placed a gentle kiss on the top of Ella’s head. “I know, and with you being a forward I can’t image how frustrated you are. We just need to keep doing what we are doing, it will happen soon.”

After a moment of silence Ella spoke up again, “You know what else sucks?”

“Hmm?”

“The fact that we have to post those pictures.” 

“Yea, that will be fun.” Erin replied dryly. 

 

The next day they posted their pictures and everyone got a good laugh from it. There were plenty of teasing texts from their friends and teammates about how handsome they both were. Ella made sure that she sent Ty a text telling him how much she hated him for giving Erin that picture, and Erin made sure Cara knew her feelings about sharing that picture with her girlfriend as well. It was exactly what they needed. 

They had a 3-day break, and then a home game so they went pretty hard at two of their practices, then had a lighter one before game day. Ella could feel it building during those days of practice. Something was going to happen for them, she could feel it. 

Ella had a bit of a headache after practice, so she headed to bed a bit earlier than Erin, but like always when the keeper wasn’t by her side, she couldn’t quite fall asleep. She just lay in bed for about 45 minutes before she felt the bed dip. 

“Thought you were going to sleep.”

Ella rolled over and cuddled into the keeper. “Couldn’t fall asleep, you weren’t here.”

“Well I’m here now, so let’s get some sleep, big day tomorrow. I can feel it.”

“Me too.” Ella said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something. Were you writing earlier?”

“Yea, just had to get some stuff out of my head and on to paper. I’m all good to go now, so let’s get some sleep yea? It’s game day tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, love you.”

“Love you too baby.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erin leapt up as soon as the ball hit the back of the net. Ella had just scored their first home goal and she was celebrating. Erin laughed as she watched her girlfriend rip off her shirt and slide on her knees. It took all she had to not run up there and celebrate with her girl, but she knew that by the time she actually got up there everyone would be back to their positions, so she settled with locking eyes and exchanging a look that they both knew what it meant. 

At halftime the keeper went over to her in the locker room, "That was amazing baby. I am so so proud of you. First home goal, how does that feel?"

Ella stole a quick kiss. "It feels amazing. I wish you could have been able to run up there. I was going to run back to you if I had scored, but I was kind of caught up in the moment."

Erin just laughed and tugged a bit on Ella's jersey. "Yea I could tell you got a little lost in the moment. Next time you'll have to run back to me."

"You got it."

Erin smiled and leaned down for a kiss that wasn't entirely appropriate for the locker room setting, but she was proud. "Let's get back out there and hold that lead yea? Maybe you'll score me another goal eh? Then, when we get home I will show you just how proud you made me tonight."

"Oooh I can't wait for that," the forward said with a wink. "Sounds very promising. Now let's get back out there. Be a wall back there."

"Break theirs."

They shared another quick kiss and then headed back on the field to finish up the game. 

 

After the game, after the autographs, after the pictures, and after the locker room, Erin made sure that Ella knew how proud she was of her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff and things happen! Yay stories! I know that this is a bit of a filler chapter, but I feel like the events needed to be put in.

Erin was already at the 18 when she watched Ella go up challenging for a header at about the 50, so when she watched the forward go to the ground she was already sprinting up the field. She knew that people might catch on to how fast she actually made he way up the field, but she didn’t care because currently her girlfriend was not getting up. 

The keeper moved Kaylyn out of the way and knelt over Ella who was now looking around a bit confused, “Hey, you took a bit of a spill, you good now?”

“I’m concussed, I can tell, but I’m fine, go rally the team back okay captain?”

“Yes ma’am. We will talk in the locker room after the game.”

Ella nodded as she was helped up by the trainers and walked off the pitch to the locker room. 

Erin knew that she needed to get the team back in the right mind-set, so she just started talking. She tried to keep them motivated and told them that they should get a win for Ella. When they broke the huddle Kaylyn quickly came over to her, “She’ll be fine, she is tough. Keep your head in the game and let’s finish this.”

They managed to hold on enough for a draw, but it was easy to tell that the girls were disappointed that they couldn’t get the win. 

Erin didn’t stick around too long for autographs and pictures, but she made sure she did a few before going into the locker room to find Ella. 

The keeper found here with her eyes shut laying down on one of the massage tables, she figured she had a pretty bad headache. She made her way over and gently spoke up, “Hey babe, how’s that head of yours? You really scared me out there.”

Ella slowly opened her eyes, only to squint and shut them again. “I’ll be okay. I just have a massive headache right now. I’m sorry I scared you.”

Erin got up and sat on the table then brought Ella’s head up to rest in her lap. The keeper started gently running her fingers through Ella’s hair and smiled as her girl hummed in appreciation. “Just try not to scare me like that again. I mean, you were unconscious babe.” 

Ella kept her eyes closed and fumbled around until she found the keeper’s hand and brought it up to her lips. “I’m sorry. Are you going to go out with the team? I can catch a ride with Steph and Michelle.”

“That is a silly question. Of course I will be going home with you. We are going to cuddle in bed with Max so that when I have to wake you up every hour it won’t be too miserable. We’ll put on a movie and I’ll make us some food.”

“I love you.”

“Love you more baby.” Erin held out her hand to help Ella off the table, “Are you dizzy at all? I can go get the car and bring it closer if you want.”

“No that’s okay, I’m alright.”

“Okay, you let me know though if you start to get dizzy.”

 

Once they got home, Erin put Max in charge of watching Ella while she went and made them some food. The pup barked excitedly as he was being told his duties, which caused Ella and Erin to both laugh out loud. “He is such a little human sometimes it’s scary.”

Ella opened her arms and Max happily cuddled her, “He is the greatest little human dog, aren’t you buddy?”

Once again Max just cheerfully barked at the forward. “Go get us some food. I’ll pick out a movie.”

Erin nodded and went off to the kitchen while Ella scrolled through Netflix to find a movie. 

When Erin returned with food, Ella hit play and cuddled into the keeper. 

“Hey babe?” Erin spoke up about halfway through the movie. 

“What’s up?”

“Well, um, we have the day off the day of my game against Germany so, uh, I thought maybe you might want to come up for it?”

Ella just smiled over at the keeper. “I talked to Randy about it last week. I’ll leave right after practice the day before the game, and I’ll miss the one the day after, but he said it was alright.”

Erin broke out into a grin, “You are just full of surprises,” she said as she leaned over to kiss the forward. 

“Gotta keep you on your toes babe.”

“And you do an excellent job at that. Where are you going to be staying though? I mean you could totally stay with my sister or something if we were playing closer to them, but I don’t know how John would feel if you stayed with me.”

Ella just smiled again, “Already got it figured out.”

Erin looked over with questioning eyes, “Yea?”

Ella just nodded, “Yup, John let me know what hotel you guys would be at, so I just got a room there a couple floors up.”

“You are just something else aren’t you? God I love you.”

“Love you more. I can’t wait to watch you kick ass. It’s going to be a good game. I already know that.”

Erin just nodded as she closed the laptop and brought Ella in closer so they could go to sleep. “Yea, it is. It’s going to be a tough one though. Germany is a fantastic team.”

“Yea, but so are you guys. You guys just keep getting better and better.”

“You know,” Erin said with a smirk, “Your Canadian patriotism is really starting to show.”

“Well, your team has kind of adopted me into your amazing group, so it only feels fitting that I support the people that support me most.”

Erin smirked down at the forward, “So does this mean in 2015 when we meet the US team you’ll be cheering for us? Because I know you are still close with some of those girls.”

Ella turned her head and stole a kiss. “I will be cheering for the team that has been the best to me, and that is you guys. Sure I’ll still be supporting the US girls, but only up until they play you. I’ll be wearing my Canada jersey.”

Erin could tell that the forward was about to fall asleep by how she trailed off at the end of her sentence, and within seconds Ella was fast asleep snuggled against her. “How did I get so lucky,” was what crossed Erin’s mind as she fell asleep as well. 

 

Ella was still doing light trainings with the team since she wasn’t 100% back form her concussion yet, but she was anxious to leave and head up to Canada for the game. 

Randy had occasionally been looking over to the forward all practice and smiled every time he caught Ella off in her own world. They still had about an hour of practice left, but Randy always seemed to know what was the best for his players, so he made his way over.

“Go.”

Ella looked up from her footwork drill that she had spaced out about doing, “What?”

“You’re not 100% here, and you still need to take it easy so I am sending you to your girlfriend early. This way you won’t be rushed to get to the airport, so go on.”

Ella smiled shyly and started getting her gear together. “Thanks coach.” 

 

Ella was bouncing on the balls of her feet waiting for Erin to see her. The forward had spotted Erin almost as soon as she had stepped out of the arrivals gate, but she wanted to see how long it would take for the keeper to see her. Once Ella made her way a little bit closer Erin finally spotted her and broke out into a bit of a jog to get to her. 

“Hey baby!”

Ella dropped her bags and let her arms wrap around the keeper’s waist. “Hi babe, I missed you.”

Erin just smiled, she had only been gone a week, they had gone much longer apart before this, but she knew that they felt the same; whenever the other was gone, it didn’t matter how long, they missed each other. “I missed you too. I’m so glad you are here,” she said before leaning down to capture Ella’s lips. 

“You are going to kick ass. I can’t wait to watch you guys!”

“Let’s get back to the hotel yea? We have a session later today and then I’m all yours.”

Ella smiled as Erin took her back in one hand and then held out her other hand for the forward to take. 

 

They made their way back to the hotel, and after the majority of the team said hello to Ella, they went to the forward’s room to get reacquainted with each other’s bodies.

 

Ella was standing up in the stands cheering along with everyone else as the team came out for warm ups. She knew that her keeper would be splitting the game with KK, but she was excited to watch her girl play for her national team. She mainly just watched the keepers as they warmed up and then when they went back into the locker room she sat down and just took in all of her surroundings. 

After about 15 minutes the team made their way back out and the stadium erupted in cheers. Ella stood up along with all of the other Canadian fans and about halfway through the Canadian National Anthem she realized she was singing along; she didn’t even know that she knew all the words. 

The game unfortunately didn’t quite turn out as well as the Canadians would have wanted, but it was easy to tell that the team was really starting to click together well and they were improving on areas that they wanted to improve. 

When the team emerged from the locker room, Erin smiled. “You look really cute with your little tattoo there babe.”

“Yea, you like it? I figured I might as well go all out.”

“Look at you my little almost Canadian.”

“Well,” the forward started with a smile, “I did learn something today.”

“Oh yea? And what was that?”

“Apparently I have learned the words to the National Anthem. I don’t remember how I learned it, but apparently I have since I sang along with everyone else in the stadium.”

Erin smiled. “Canada has adopted you. That has to be a sign that she approves of you.”

“Canada is a she?”

Erin just shrugged, “Yup.”

“You played great today. It was really fun to watch you guys. I love the dynamic that you all have with each other. I mean Jessie is what 15? 16? And she is starting games and clicking so well with you all. That says a lot about your team and how well you all get along.”

“Thank you babe. I know it wasn’t our greatest game, but I could see the things we worked on happening so I think we are on the right track for the World Cup.”

“You guys are going to be so ready to kill it in 2015. What do you say we go back to the hotel? I have to fly out early in the morning and I want to just cuddle while we talk about the game.”

“Sounds great babe, let’s head to the bus.”

When Ella got on the bus John greeted her with a smile. She was glad that the coach was supportive of not only their relationship, but everyone's relationships. Before Randy and John, Ella had never had a coach that actually made players feel comfortable talking about their significant other, let alone someone like John that actually welcomed her into a team environment that wasn't even hers.

They rode back in relative silence to the short 10 minutes to the hotel. People were quietly talking, but it was just a relaxing time.

Erin shot Steph a look that told her not to expect her back to the room tonight, so the younger keeper smiled and walked over to Marie. 

"That is still one that that really surprised me."

"What do you mean?"

"Steph and Marie. I mean they are incredibly cute together, but I would have never thought to pair them together. How did that even happen?"

Erin just shrugged and smiled. "Honestly no one really knows. They are kind of like Diana and Rhian. They've just been together for so long and they just work."

"I think that is so cute."

"I love that you care about the people that you aren't as close to on this team just as much as you care about Em or Carm. Not a lot of people would be invested in everyone else on the team, but you really are and I love that about you."

"Well I love you, so I want to love the people that love you as well."

"You're amazing you know that?"

Ella just shrugged and blushed. "Let's head to bed and cuddle."

"Perfect plan love." 

 

Erin took Ella to the airport the next morning, and they parted ways with a kiss. Erin would be back in just two days, so the usual teary airport goodbyes didn’t happen this time. 

“I’ll see you in a couple days baby.”

Ella stole one more kiss before making her way to the security line. 

 

The season progressed, but as it progressed Ella noticed something was off. After practice she had a bit of pain in her stomach, but she just figured it might have had something to do with the sketchy Chinese they had eaten in New Jersey. However, when the pain didn’t go away after about a week, and it kept getting slightly worse she knew she needed to go to the trainers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday friend!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for being so patient with my month off. I got ahead about 4ish chapters (I haven't completely decided how I'm going to split them up) so I should have an update out every week for at least a little while :) You all are super lovely with all of you support.

Erin noticed that Ella wasn’t practicing fully with the team. She was taking a lot of breaks and only doing about half the workouts, at about half pace. She had noticed Ella was with the trainers a little bit more this week, but she figured if it was something serious the forward would come talk to her, so she concluded that it must just be a pulled muscle or a small strain on something. The keeper went back to paying attention to the drill that Bianca was doing so that she knew what to do when her turn came up and tried to keep her mind focused on practice. 

Ella had noticed that Erin was looking over her way frequently, so she knew that she would have to tell the keeper what was going on soon. She was still trying to cope with the fact that her playing time was going to be quite limited, but perhaps the keeper would be able to put a positive spin on it. 

When practice was over, Ella went over to Erin as she was changing. “Don’t think I didn’t catch you constantly checking up on me.”

A guilty smile came across the keepers face, “Sorry, but you were going at about 50% today, I was just a bit worried. Is everything okay?”

Ella nodded, “Yea, it’s fine, I’m getting it sorted out.”

“Getting what sorted out?”

Ella looked around the locker room and noticed that a few of the girls were looking over concerned. She put on a smile and gave Erin a quick kiss, “I’ll explain when we get home okay?” she said as she made her way over to her locker to change.

 

When they got home Ella took the ice pack from the freezer and got settled on the couch. She knew that it would only be a few minutes before Erin came over and started asking her questions about what was going on. 

Sure enough after just a couple of minutes the keeper was lifting up Ella’s legs and then settling them back down in her lap. “So, what is going on babe?”

“Trainers think that I have a hernia.”

“A hernia! Babe! Why didn’t you tell me about that? How long have you known about it? When did it start? How bad is the pain?”

Ella laughed a bit, “Slow it down babe, one question at a time.”

“How long have you had it?” Erin asked with worry showing in her eyes. 

“I’ve had some pain for about 2 weeks now, but the trainers just told me a couple days ago that they suspect it’s a hernia. I’m getting an MRI this week to make sure that is what it is though.”

“How come you didn’t tell me about it?” the keeper asked with a hint of hurt in her voice. 

Ella shifted on the couch so that her head was now resting in the keeper’s lap. “I didn’t want to worry you before I knew what it was. I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

Erin sighed and leaned down for a kiss. “I forgive you for keeping it form me, as long as you promise to not do it again.”

“Promise.”

“Good. Now tell me about how you think you got it.”

They sat on the couch and Ella explained how she started feeling a slight pain a couple weeks ago and thought it was just the bad Chinese that they ate in New Jersey, but when they pain didn’t go away she knew that something was up. About halfway through her explanation, the forward felt Erin’s hand come and rest on her abdomen where she had said the pain was. She smiled and continued on talking about when her MRI was scheduled and for the options that she had. 

When she was finished explaining everything Erin spoke up, “I’m going to say this because I know what you are like. Please listen to your body. I know you want to finish the season, but if you can’t, please don’t try and force it. I know that you will want to.”

“I will, promise. I’m going to wait for the MRI and for the trainers and doctors to talk to see what it will do to my playing time. You’re right, I do want to finish the season, and I will do my best to be able to, but if it becomes too much I’ll be okay with sitting out.” 

“Good,” the keeper replied as she leaned down for another kiss. “I still wish you would have told me about it earlier though.”

“I love youuuu,” Ella said with her best puppy eyes, something she knew the keeper couldn’t resist. 

Erin rolled her eyes and sighed, she knew exactly what the forward was doing “I love you too.”

 

The next few practices Ella was still just going about 50%. The forward didn’t really want to share about her injury until she got her MRI, so when anyone asked she just said she had some muscle pain, that something might be pulled or strained. 

When it came time for the MRI, Erin, along with their trainer, Mike, accompanied Ella to the hospital. While Ella went in the two of them were talking over what they best care options would be if Ella was able to finish out the season. 

After a little while the doctor came out to inform Erin and Mike about Ella’s injury. 

“She is getting her things together and should be out here shortly, but she does have a hernia in her lower left abdomen. Given the nature of her profession, and in my professional opinion, she can hold off on the surgery until the end of the season. However, I would not recommend her playing more than a half and she will need to be properly taped up before games. I would recommend getting surgery as soon as the season is over though, because while it’s not too bad now, if she continues to play it will get worse and by the end of the season she will definitely need the surgery.”

Mike nodded along taking in what the doctor was saying. When Ella came out Erin went over to her to sum up what the doctor told them while Mike and the doctor talked a bit more. 

Ella looked a bit down when she first came out so the first thing Erin did was give her a hug. 

“This sucks,” the forward mumbled into her chest.

“I know babe, but think about the positives; you still get to play and practice so that’s good.”

“Yea, but I can only play, at most, a half. That is going to drive me crazy.”

“I know it will, but you know that Randy won’t just have you sitting on the bench yea? He’ll want you to be watching out for things and helping him see things from the players perspective like he does with Britt.”

Ella sighed, “I know, but I still hate it.”

“I know, I know. How about we go see what Mike has to say, then we can go get some lunch?”

“Sounds good to me, can we get those sandwiches from that place?”

Erin laughed because if Ella had said that to anyone else they would have just looked at her with a blank look, however the keeper knew exactly what she was talking about. “Sure thing.”

After talking with Mike and getting lunch they made their way back home to just take the rest of the day to relax. Erin knew that Ella was bummed out about the news, so she figured a relaxing cuddle day was just the thing to make the forward feel a bit better. 

As the season came to a close Erin could tell that the forward was in a lot of pain. She would go back to the locker room after she would get done playing in so much pain that sometimes Erin could see the tears forming in her eyes. She was so proud of her girl though for fighting for as long as she did. 

 

A few days after their final home game they were waiting for the doctor to come take Ella into the operating room. They had started the IV drip a few minutes ago, so Ella was starting to feel the effects of the drug that would soon knock her out. 

“’m getting sleepy.”

“That’s okay babe, you go to sleep and I’ll be here when you wake up okay?”

“I don’t wanna go to sleep though cuz then the doctor cuts my stomach open.” Ella replied in a whiney tone.

Erin just laughed, “Baby, he isn’t going to cut your stomach open. They are just going to make a tiny little cut.”

“You don’t know that!”

Erin laughed again and rolled her eyes, “Yes I do, that’s how they do it. Trust me babe, you will be just fine. I’ll be here when you get out, and then we can go get smoothies at that place that you love.”

Ella smiled sleepily, but happily nonetheless, “Really? Can I get the strawberry one with real ice-cream?!” she asked with a yawn.

“Sure thing, you can get whatever flavor you want.”

Ella reached out her hand for Erin to hold and gave it a light squeeze as the drugs took over and she was out. 

When they took Ella into the operating room Erin took out her phone to let some of their friends and family know that Ella had gone in and was expected to be in there for about an hour or so. Carm made sure to keep a conversation going for a little while to help the keeper pass time, but she had to go after about a half hour. She was playing games on her phone for a little while when she got a snapchat notification from Seredy. She smiled because the only time Ella’s sister ever really snapchatted her was when Anaiah or Cambria wanted to do it. 

Seredy was holding her phone out to capture the two girls dancing around the living room to Erin and Ella doing their little performance on the last episode of their Chicago webshow. She smiled and drew a heart to send back to them, then she texted Seredy and told her that they would definitely be visiting in the off-season. Their friends and family already knew that Ella would be coming up to Canada and living with her, but they made sure that the two of them promised to visit when they could. 

The keeper continued to snapchat with the girls for a little while and before she knew it they were bringing Ella back into the room. She sent off a message to the girls and then pocketed her phone and listened to the doctor. 

“Everything thing went just fine once we found the second hernia. She should be waking up in about a half hour or so, she will still be feeling the anesthetic, then just push the call button for the nurse to come and check everything out.”

“Wait, she had two hernias?! She was playing for half the season with TWO!”

The doctor slightly chuckled at Erin’s shock. “She has an extremely high pain tolerance it appears, not many people would be able to play with one, let alone two of them. Both are fixed now and shouldn’t be a problem if she takes it easy for a little while. She will still need to be taped up for a little bit, so when she wakes up just push the call button and the nurse will go over everything.”

“Thanks.”

Erin took her chair and moved it closer to the forward’s bed so that she could take her hand. “You are crazy you know that? You had two of them in there. How in the world were you even still standing after games? My crazy girl.”

She sat there for a while longer just holding Ella’s hand and taking a couple pictures for fun, when she saw the forward start to stir. 

“Hey baby.”

Ella blinked and looked around a bit confused before focusing on Erin and smiling like a dope.

“Hi!”

Erin laughed a little bit, “You did so good in your surgery. The doctors found a second hernia though so it was a little bit longer than they thought it would be. You my crazy girl have an extremely high pain tolerance.”

Ella just smiled over at Erin. “So now I’m fixed I can play again!”

“Not quite babe, you have to take it easy for a little while to finish healing.”

Ella immediately pouted. “I wanna play though.”

“I know baby. But if you don’t do what the doctor says then you won’t heal right.”

“Fine,” the forward huffed.

“Let’s call the nurse and get you ready to go okay?”

“Okay.”

Erin listened as the nurse explained how to tape up Ella’s stomach, she should only have to tape it up for a couple of days before it would be fine without it as long as the forward wasn’t doing anything too strenuous. She blushed when the nurse told her that intercourse was not recommended until at least 2 weeks, and Ella of course chose that time to speak up, “That’s so long though!”

“Babe!”

The nurse just laughed, “trust me, I’ve heard some way more compromising things than being upset about sex, or lack of, for a couple of weeks. She is being pretty tame to some of the things I’ve heard. You two are good to go though. If you have any questions, or the pain starts to come back just doing daily activities just let us know.”

“Thank you.” Erin replied as the nurse left then she turned to Ella. “How about we go home and watch a movie with Max, does that sound good?”

Ella nodded enthusiastically. “Yea! Can we eat ice cream too?”

“Sure, we can have some ice cream. Let’s get you out of the hospital gown and back into your sweats, then we will head home.”

When they got home Ella went and settled on the couch while Erin got the ice cream she promised the forward. Max followed Erin into the kitchen and then when they got back to the couch he looked up hesitantly to the forward. 

“I swear he is like part human, he can totally tell that you are hurt and that he needs to be careful.”

“Aw, come here Max, it’s okay we can still cuddle.”

Erin was sitting up against the couch with Ella’s head resting in her lap. Once Max realized it was okay to get up, he carefully maneuvered himself to cuddle up between Ella’s side and the back of the couch. 

It wasn’t long until Ella and Max were both asleep, but because the two of them were cuddled up with her, there was no way she was about to try and move. She took a picture of the two of them to save, and then a smile broke across her face as she thought about how this offseason something like this, them all cuddled on the couch, would be a normal occurrence.


	24. Chapter 24

“So, I was thinking about the best way to get most of your stuff up to Vancouver and I think I came up with a pretty good idea.” The keeper said about a week before they were leaving Houston. 

“Oh yea, and how’s that?”

“Road trip!”

“Really? You want to drive all the way to Vancouver?”

“Yea, why not? I think it would be fun. You, me, Max just hanging out, seeing the sights and whatnot.”

“Yea, I guess that does sound pretty fun. Oooh! We can spend some time in Portland and Seattle since we didn’t really get to hang out in either of those cities when we played.” 

“Perfect! It’s set then? Road trip home?”

Ella nodded enthusiastically and smiled at the thought of calling Vancouver home for the next 6 months, “Yea road trip home!” 

They slowly packed up all week long and shipped what needed to be shipped to either Ella’s sister’s place in Chicago for the few things that they didn’t really need or they shipped the stuff they need to their place in Vancouver, otherwise they planned on fitting as much as they could into their car. 

“When did we get so much stuff!?” Ella complained as they tried to finish packing up the final things before they left the next day. 

“Most of this is yours babe.”

“Well yea, your stuff is already in Canada at least! I have to bring all of my things!”

Erin just laughed and pulled Ella down on the couch, “You are starting to get all worked up again about moving, so clearly that means we need to take a break. Pick out a movie, go get Max, and we will cuddle for a little while.”

“Can we just take a nap instead? I think I need my brain to turn off for a while, I’m actually a little bit nervous about moving.” She admitted with a bit of an embarrassed blush.

“Hey,” Erin said as she pulled Ella into her lap, “Why didn’t you tell me you were nervous? And what are you nervous about?”

“Well I’m more excited than nervous, so I didn’t really want to mention it. I’m just…I’ve always lived in Illinois, pretty much in Chicago or right outside of the city, and this season was a nice little change being in Houston, but I guess it just sort of hit me that I wouldn’t be going back to Chicago like I normally do. Don’t get me wrong I am so so so excited about moving in with you, like I can’t wait, but it’s just going to be a change you know? Did that even make sense?”

Erin just laughed a bit, “To anyone else it probably would be a little confusing, but lucky for you I’ve learned to speak Ella, so I know exactly what you mean. I know it’s going to be a big change for you; it’s a big change for us too. Yea we lived together this season, but we are about to actually move in to an actual place in Vancouver together. It’s okay to be nervous. This is a big step in our relationship, and for you personally.”

Ella just relaxed into the keeper. “You always know what to say to help calm me down. How do you do that?”

“I told you,” Erin said as she leaned down for a kiss, “I’ve learned to speak Ella.”

“Rude.”

“You know you love it. Now, how about that nap you mentioned a minute ago?”

Ella grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and snuggled into Erin’s side. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Love you.”

“Love you more babe.”

 

“How much longer?” Ella asked for what seemed like the 10th time in the past half hour.   
“Babe, we will be there soon okay? Please just chill out a little bit okay?”

Ella looked down sheepishly, she could tell that she was starting to annoy the keeper, “Sorry,” she whispered.

Erin took her right hand off the wheel and reached over to the forward. “I know you get antsy when you’re bored, don’t apologize for it okay? We will be there soon, we will get out stretch a bit and just walk around a bit, maybe find a cool place for lunch before we start the last couple hours of our trip.”

Ella brought their hands up for a kiss, “You are so great. I can’t believe we only have like 5 hours left. That seems like nothing compared to the 22 we’ve already done.”

Ella relaxed for a little while and was mindlessly playing on her phone when she noticed that they weren’t on the highway anymore, but instead on some street that looked like a neighborhood; for some reason it felt familiar to the forward. “Where are we?” she finally asked

Erin just smiled. “You’ll see.”

They drove for a couple more minutes before Erin parked the car and they got out. Erin had a mischievous smile on her face and was just waiting for Ella to realize where they were. 

Ella looked at the houses in the neighborhood for a moment before something that looked like a zip-line between two of the houses caught her eye. “No way.”

Erin just smiled, “So, did you figure it out?”

Ella ran over to Erin and hugged her. “I love the Goonies! How did you know where to find this? I can’t believe the place is still here! And they kept Data’s zip-line thing up! This is so cool babe!”

“I figured you would like this little detour. Come on, I’ll take your picture in front of the house.”

Ella smiled at her girlfriend. How she ended up with this woman that was so incredibly good to her would continue to baffle her. The keeper was so sweet and thoughtful and Ella was so lucky.

 

After taking some pictures, and listening to a lot of movie quotes they left and were on the road again. They knew that they were pretty close, just a few hours away, form Vancouver so both women were ready to just be home and collapse in bed. They were making really good time, and soon enough the streets started to look familiar to Erin as she got closer and closer to her, now their, apartment. Ella had fallen asleep about an hour from their place, and as much as Erin wanted to wake her up and continue to talk to her for the last bit of their trip, she knew that the forward was exhausted. 

Erin pulled up to the apartment complex and smiled over at the sleeping forward. She decided to let Ella continue to sleep for a little bit and she started to move some of their stuff that was in the car to the apartment. She only took some of the more necessary and valuable stuff, the rest could wait until the morning to get out of the car. 

Once she was finished she went back out to wake up Ella. She leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hey baby, we’re here. Wake up so we can get inside and get in bed.”

Ella stirred awake, “We gotta move some stuff inside first though,” she mumbled blearily.

“I got all the important stuff inside, let’s go to bed babe.”

“Mmmkay.” 

Erin helped steady a still half asleep Ella as they made their way to their room. Ella immediately collapsed on the bed, and Erin went to change her clothes before brining the forward over to cuddle. 

Ella sleepily rolled over and tucked herself into the keeper, “Love you.”

“Love you too baby.”

 

It had been a few days since the move and they were finally getting everything unpacked. They hadn’t really done anything too fun since they got there because they had been so focused on getting anything done, so Erin decided that a hike in Whistler was the perfect thing to get them out of the house for the day. 

She was excited to get Ella familiar with some of the amazing trails and sights that Vancouver had to offer. She loved her city and she wanted to share it with the girl she loved.

They got ready that morning and met Cara at the trail. This was one of their favorite hikes, even if it was a bit more challenging than the others. They got off to a good start and were having a lot of fun looking at all of the sights and Ella was transfixed on just how beautiful it really was. 

Erin fell behind a little bit and watched as Ella and Cara talked about something quite animatedly. She smiled and thought about how great they got along with each other’s families. Erin thought about how her niece and nephew loved Ella, and how much she loved seeing Cambria and Anaiah. Ella got along well with her sisters and her parents as well. She was so spaced out thinking about how lucky she was, she didn’t even notice that Cara and Ella were calling for her until Ella walked up to her.

“Hellooo? Where did you just go? We’ve been trying to get your attention for a couple minutes.”

Erin just smiled and leaned down for a kiss, “Just thinking about how much I love you and how lucky I am.” 

Ella smiled and wrapped her arm around Erin’s waist. “Love you too you big softy. Now come on we are almost to the top!”

Ella had peeled off her shirt about 10 minutes from them reaching their destination and Erin was trying her best to not gawk at her girl. 

“You’re drooling,” Cara said and bumped shoulders with her sister.

“I mean, can you blame me though?”

“You are really smitten. She is better than Melissa was for you, you know that right?”

Erin nodded, “Yea, I mean, with Mel I thought I loved her, and maybe I did, but with Ella it’s just like…like…I don’t even know how to describe it everything is just brighter.”

Cara gave her sister a playful shove, “You have turned into a big softy haven’t you?”

“I guess she just brings it out in me.”

“Well I definitely approve, she is really great.”

“Thanks sis.”

They got to the top of the trail a few minutes later and Ella was speechless at the scene around her. Erin took that opportunity to take a few candid pictures of the forward as she looked around. 

Erin walked behind the forward and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Pretty cool view huh?” 

Ella smiled and turned around, “Absolutely amazing. It is so beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you.” Erin said smoothly with a wink.

Ella turned again and settled her back against the keeper’s chest as they looked out at the horizon. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Cara watched from a distance and smiled at her sister. She was so happy that Erin had finally found her other half. She took a couple of pictures of the two of them so that she could send them to Erin later and then gave the couple a few moments to themselves as she went over to take some more pictures of the scenery. 

Once everyone had taken all the pictures that they wanted, and posted the ones that they liked, they started to make their way down the trail. One of Cara and Erin’s favorite thing about this particular trail was the zip line that took you down about halfway. They hadn’t told Ella about that aspect of it and Erin watched as Ella face lit up when it came into view.

“You didn’t tell me we got to do this?! This is so cool!”

“We thought you might like it.” Erin replied with a smile. 

Cara went down first, then Ella, and Erin following. 

The keeper watched as Ella had a blast going back down the hill and thought about how she wanted to keep the forward smiling like that for the rest of her life.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter, but good things to come in the next one! :)

“So, how do you think I would do as a coach for like, kids? Not little kids, like 13 year olds.” Ella asked when they were cuddled in bed together.

Erin turned to look at the forward; she could tell that Ella was slightly nervous for some reason. “Are you kidding? You would be a fantastic coach! Did you find something?”

Ella nodded with a smile glad that her keeper was encouraging her. “Yea, I kept in touch with a couple of people from that year I played up here a while back and my friend Wesley knew about this opportunity to help coach one of his friends team. You think it’s a good idea?”

“I think it’s a great idea! You are going to be amazing! Those kids are going to be so lucky to have you out there. Plus you were saying that you wanted to find some sort of job to do while you’re here. This is perfect for you babe.”

“Yea?”

Erin smiled and leaned over for a kiss, “Absolutely.”

Ella let out a breath, “I don’t know why I’m so nervous about it.”

“It’s okay to be nervous babe, but you are going to be great with those kids. When are you going to start?”

“Wes said as soon as I can, so I think next week is when I’ll go.”

“Perfect! You’ll have a little bit of time to kind of get familiar with the area and stuff before you start up then.”

“Yea that is what I was thinking too.”

“You are going to be so great at this Ella.”

“Thanks, you’ll come out and help a couple of the days right?” Ella asked with a pout, knowing that the keeper wouldn’t be able to say no to her.

Erin just rolled her eyes and laughed, “Of course I will. You didn’t need to waste a pout on that, you know I love working with kids. I would be happy to come out and help as much as I can.”

“Thanks babe.” 

 

About a week later Ella showed up to the first practice with Erin. The keeper didn’t have to go into camp for another couple of weeks so she went with Ella for the first few practices. The forward was a natural with the kids and they were pretty excited about the forward as well. The kids were also pretty excited that first day that Erin showed up. The keeper was a great sport though and took pictures with the girls after practice and she made sure to let them know that she would be popping in and out of practices when she could. 

They fell into a bit of a routine after a while and it made them both smile. The domesticity of it all was something fairly knew for them, but it seemed like a little glimpse into the future. 

When the leaves started to change colors and fall off the trees, and the weather turned cooler, Ella was just hit one day with a feeling of missing Chicago. She loved the fall in Chicago, she would always take her nieces apple picking and then they would all go out for Halloween. She knew that moving up to Vancouver would be hard sometimes since her family was one of the most important things to her, but she was so incredibly happy with Erin too that it balanced out for the most part. However, every now and then she had days where she really missed Chicago. 

Thankfully the day she was hit with these feelings she didn’t have practice with her team, and Erin had the day off as well so they just spent the day being lazy around their house. The keeper took notice that Ella wasn’t in the best of moods, but she didn’t want to push her, everyone has a bad day every now and then. 

During dinner she noticed that Ella was looking at a bunch of pictures of her nieces and the rest of her family and that is when Erin realized what was going on. 

She waited until they were cuddled on the couch to bring up what she was thinking about, “Hey baby? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course you can, what’s up?”

Erin tightened her hold slightly on the forward, “I was going to ask you the same thing, you’ve been a little bit down lately, and I noticed during dinner that you were looking at pictures of your family back in Chicago. Are you feeling a little homesick?”

Ella just shook her head, “Home is with you, so I’m not homesick. Fall was just a really fun time back in Chicago. I would take the girls apple picking, we carved pumpkins, went out for Halloween, all that stuff and I just kind of miss it. Plus with the new baby, I don’t know when I’ll get to see her really. I absolutely love it up here with you, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but I just sometimes wish it was a little bit closer.”

Erin nodded understanding her girl. This was exactly how she felt when she was in the states during the season. She thought about how every Halloween she would take Malcolm and Lily out trick-or-treating so she knew what Ella must have been feeling to not be able to carry out traditions that have been around for as long as the kids could remember. “I know what you mean baby. I felt this way during the season a few times. I know how fun it is to be with the little ones at this time, I always take Malcolm and Lily out with Megan on Halloween so I get that. Why don’t we plan a visit back so you can be there for Halloween and meet your new niece? We have about 3 weeks before Halloween that’s enough time to plan something out.”

Ella sighed, “I don’t want you to give up your traditions either though. That is where I’m torn. I want to make new traditions with your, or be part of what your family does when we are here, I don’t want you to sacrifice your stuff since we are at home here with your family close.”

“Baby, nothing is being sacrificed. This is the great thing about it, we get to make our own traditions, we get to keep some with mine, and we get to keep some with yours. We just have to compromise and figure out what to do. I would be more than happy to go back to Chicago and see the little cuties with you, you know that.”

“I know, and I love you for it, but I know how much you love spending Halloween with Malcolm and Lily.” Ella knew what she wanted to suggest, but she didn’t want it to cause a rift between them. 

Erin could see that Ella was hesitating to tell her something and that usually meant she was embarrassed to say something, or she didn’t want it to come out the wrong way and start a fight. “Babe, go on and ask or say whatever it is that you are hesitating to say. Talk to me.”

Ella buried her face in the crook of Erin’s neck before mumbling, “I don’t want you to get mad at me.”

“I’m not going to get mad at you babe. I promise. Please tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Would you be mad if I suggested spending Halloween separate? It’s just, it’s not like it’s a major holiday, and we both want to spend it with our families and I just don’t want you to think that I wouldn’t want to spend it with yours, just these last few days I’ve really missed mine and I just think that that…”

Erin couldn’t listen to her poor girl ramble on any longer so she leaned down to kiss Ella. “That is a perfectly good idea Ella. Why in the world did you think that I would get mad? We can spend separate time with family. That is no problem at all baby.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not. Just so long as you send me pictures of the cuties, and I will do the same. Okay?”

Ella smiled glad that Erin understood. “Okay. I love you.”

“Love you more, how about we go to bed and then tomorrow we can figure out your flight info and all that.”

“Sounds good.”

 

A few weeks later and they were standing in the airport getting ready to part for a few days. Ella thought it was silly that she was spending the money to go back, but Erin assured her that it was important for her to go back to hang out with her family, even if it was just for a few days. 

Anaiah and Cambria both wanted to be Elsa, and luckily they got along so well that they didn’t have any issues with them both being the princess. Ella was also so excited to meet her new niece. She sent plenty of pictures back to Erin, and in turn Erin sent her pictures of Malcolm and Lily in their zombie attire. They gushed about the little kids over snapchat, and Ella made sure that Erin was bombarded with pictures of the newest addition to the Masar family. 

Candy was consumed the entire night of Halloween and Cambria and Anaiah were bouncing off the walls still at 10pm, when she was supposed to Skype with Erin, so she decided to surprise the keeper and have the munchkins join her. 

The girls were still in their princess outfits when Erin called and the keeper just smiled at how cute they were. “Hey beautiful princesses! Did you have fun and get lots of candy?”

“Mhmm!” Anaiah said as she nodded vigorously. “We had lots of fun! Why didn’t you come with Aunty Ella though?”

“I wanted to come see you cuties, but I was with my niece and nephew today and I haven’t seen them in a little while, I promise next time I’ll come okay? I didn’t want to leave my niece and nephew because you know how Aunty Ella is always with you guys on Halloween?” she waited for them to nod before she continued, “Well I am always with my niece and nephew on Halloween too so I didn’t want to leave them.”

“Would they be sad if you didn’t go see them?” Cambria asked, “Because if Aunty Ella couldn’t come we would be sad, so it’s okay that you couldn’t come since you are making them happy.”

Erin smiled. “Yea they would be sad cutie. Thank you for understanding munchkin. I promise I’ll see you soon okay?”

“Okay Aunty Erin. I love you.”

“I love you too, and I love you too Anaiah.”

Ella smiled as Erin continued to talk to her nieces for a little while, but when she felt the girls kind of slump into her she knew it was time to get them to bed; they were crashing from their sugar high.

“Hey kiddos, why don’t you tell Erin goodnight and we will head to bed okay?”

“Goodnight Aunty Erin, we love you.”

“Love you too, goodnight cuties.”

Seredy came in and took one of the sleeping girls and Ella signaled she would be back in just a minute. 

Erin smiled and waited for her to return.

“Sorry about that babe. They were pretty excited to see you though.”

“Don’t apologize. I love talking to them, you know that. How was the little one?”

Ella smiled, “She was a champ, only cried like twice the entire time we were out and I got her to calm down pretty easily. She is so cute babe; I can’t wait for you to meet her. Ugh and her cheeks! Babe they are so chubby and cute!”

“I can’t wait baby.”

They talked for a little while longer until they both started to feel the effects of keeping up with hyper kids. Ella let out a yawn and snuggled into her bed further. 

“I feel like we both need to get to bed too baby, you are going to have busy day tomorrow, and then you leave the next morning.”

Ella just nodded and closed her eyes. “Hmm love you. Sing please?”

Erin was about to fall asleep herself, but she stayed up for the forward. “Of course baby. Goodnight.”

Erin softly sang, she only had to for about a minute before Ella was out. “My beautiful girl, how did I get so lucky” was the last thing Erin thought of before she followed Ella and fell asleep as well.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason Italics wasn't cooperating, so anything in /this/ is meant to be italics :)

Erin stood smiling next to a bouncing forward. Carm was flying in for a little while and was going just hang out for about a week. Ella just couldn’t seem to stay still and they still had about 15 minutes before the plane was scheduled to land. 

“Babe you need to calm down, she still has like 15 minutes before her plane even lands, so it will probably be about a half hour before she even gets out here.”

“I know, I know, but I’m just excited! I haven’t seen her in a while, and the girls are going to flip out when she comes to the practice later in the week. Plus she can work out with me on those couple of days you are going to Cara’s for the wedding stuff. It will be good to have someone else there besides just Wes and I. I’m getting tired of him kicking my butt when we do fitness stuff. Although I guess it evens out when we do shooting drills.”

“I’m kind of bummed I’ll only be here for two days to hang out with you guys before I have to go, but you guys will have a ton of fun I bet.”

Ella was about to answer, but she spotted the defender first and ran over to her and crushed her in a hug. 

Carm just stood trapped by the forward for a moment before Erin came over so she started squirming, “Someone get this peasant off of me! I’m getting peasant germs!”

“You love it shut up!” Ella laughed as she hugged the defender tighter. 

Carm laughed and hugged her back for a minute before going over to hug Erin. “Hey buddy. You sure you want me in charge of your girl while you’re gone? You know the kind of shenanigans that she could drag me into if you aren’t there.”

“Excuse you,” Ella said, “Drag you into? Please we all that whenever I get in trouble with that one,” she said gesturing to Erin, “it is all your fault.”

The defender scoffed, “Yea right, you and your social media always get you in trouble. I have nothing to do with that.”

Ella just rolled her eyes and hooked her arm through Carm’s as they left the airport. 

The three of them hung out together for the rest of the day just sort of being lazy around the apartment. Carm made sure to tease them about how homey it looked and how the two were so domestic with each other, especially when they started to make dinner and seemed to move effortlessly around each other in the semi-tight space. The defender just shook her head and chuckled at them. 

“What’s so funny?” the keeper asked.

“You two.”

Erin and Ella just looked at each other confused; what was so funny about them making dinner? “Care to elaborate on that?”

Carm shrugged, “Well you been together officially for a little over a year right?” She waited for them to nod before continuing, “You guys just move around each other with such ease. Like I know you lived together in Houston, so that is probably where some of this domesticity came from, but the rest of it just kind of falls into place with you two doesn’t it?”

“Hmm, I guess we just kind of, I don’t know, work well together.” Ella said.

“My point exactly. It usually takes some time for this level of domestic bliss for couples, but you guys just fall into it and it really is just something to see.”

Ella blushed a little bit, and Erin smiled and kissed her temple, “Well, it’s pretty easy with this one,” the keeper said, “it just works.” 

“Ugh you two are too much.”

“Awww,” Ella said as she came over and hugged Carm, “Soon you’ll find someone and it will all just click for you.”

Carm blushed and kind of looked down, but then quickly tried to cover it up.

Unfortunately for her though Erin caught it. “What was that all about?” she asked with a smirk.

Carm decided to play dumb, “What are you talking about?”

Erin just stared her down until she broke and looked away with a blush. “Mhmm. What is that all about?” she said gesturing to the blush, “You got something you want to share?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oooh spill!!” Ella said eagerly.

Carm sighed; she knew she wasn’t going to get out of this now. “There honestly isn’t much to tell at this point. We are just talking and kind of flirty. Nothing has happened yet.”

“But you want something to happen right?” Ella asked.

“Yea, but it’s kind of a complicated situation.” She said, trying her best to keep it vague.

But of course that didn’t work because Ella Masar always has questions, “What’s complicated about it?”

Carm knew she had to go about this delicately to not give away too much. “Just some past things that are making it hard for us to do more than flirt. We’ve talked about going on dates, and dating, but we both have issues that we need to work out before we take that step.”

“Well,” Erin said with a smile, “You definitely are quite smitten with this girl so I say you try your best to get these past issues or what ever it is and go for it.”

/If only you knew/ the defender thought. “Yea, I guess, it’s just hard.”

“You can do it though, if you both want it enough you can get through whatever is holding you back,” the keeper said.

Later that night Carm looked at her phone with a smile as she read the first couple messages, then let it drop when she saw the most recent one.

/Glad you landed safe, have fun with the dorks! Text me when you can ;)/  
/Guess you’re a bit busy with them catching up tonight so we can Skype sometime tomorrow if you’re up for it/   
/Don’t forget to talk to Erin, that’s the only way we can make this work is if you can get through to her. I don’t think she would pick up if I called unfortunately, you  
can tell her to call me though if she wants to when you bring it up. Sweet dreams. ;)/

/I’m doing it tomorrow Mel. I’ll let you know how it goes. Goodnight :)/ 

Carm sighed, how in the world was she supposed to tell her best friend that she has feelings for her ex, the one that broke her heart so badly. The only way she could see this ending is badly. With a sigh she closed her eyes and tired to fall asleep. 

Erin was set to leave late afternoon, and Carm knew that she had to bring it up before the keeper left. The two of them were early rises, so the defender took the opportunity to bring it up while Ella was still sleeping. 

“So um, this girl that I was telling you about,” the defender started off nervously after they both had a cup of coffee in them, “can I maybe get some opinions about what to do?”

“Sure buddy, you know you can talk to me about these things, so what’s up?” the keeper asked as they sat on the couch. 

Carm looked down at her hands and just started talking. “Well um, that past stuff I was talking about, um, you see she is a friend of mines ex and their break up wasn’t so great. I kind of helped that friend through the break up, and I don’t want her to get mad at me now that I’ve started having feelings for her ex; I value her friendship way too much.”

Erin had a bit of a smile; she had an idea about where this was going, “And don’t forget about the National Team dynamic too.”

“Yea we have that too but, wait…wha…what do you mean?”

Erin pulled her friend in for a hug, “It’s not like those Hawaii pictures were very subtle of you two.”

“You don’t hate me?” the defender asked in a child-like voice.

“Of course not. I made my peace with that break-up the moment I realized I was in love with Ella. Carm, you are my best friend, I want you to be happy with someone. If that someone is Mel then that is fine with me.”

Carm leaned over and cuddled into the keeper’s side. “You’re the best person, you know that right?”

“Love you buddy.”

Ella walked out rubbing the sleep from her eyes, still half asleep, and saw the two cuddled on the couch. She didn’t even say anything before she somehow wiggled her way between the two of them and promptly fell back asleep with her head in Erin’s lap. 

The two of them quietly laughed and then Carm spoke up, “This happens often I assume?”

Erin was running her fingers through the forward’s hair with a dorky smile on her face. “Yea, I kind of love it though.”

“Clearly. You should see how dopey you look.”

“Ass.”

 

Carm and Ella had a blast hanging out for the few days that Carm was in town. They were up to their old shenanigans again and it felt like it did when they all played in Chicago. That was one of the only things that Ella missed about Chicago, aside from her family, was playing on the same team with Carm and Erin. They always had a blast together and the forward missed it. 

Ella made sure to send the picture of their abs pose to Erin before she posted it on instagram just to tease her. What she wasn’t expecting was the keeper to send back a picture of her own just to mess with her. The forward’s faces flushed. 

“If you could stop sexting your girlfriend that would be great!” Carm yelled from the field. 

“We weren’t…that’s not what was happening you ass.”

They continued to mess around on the field for a while before Carm and Ella headed back. 

It was later in the night when Carm’s face took on the same shade of red that Ella’s had during practice, and unfortunately the forward caught it. 

“If you could stop sexting your mystery girl that would be great,” she teased.

“I’m…I’m not…that is not what is happening, at all.”

“Oh yea? Let me see what’s got you all red and embarrassed then!” 

Ella quickly snatched the phone out of Carm’s hand and went to her most recent message. She didn’t pay attention to the sender and read it out loud, “You are wonderful. I miss you though so come back soon so we can cuddle okay?” Ella smiled over at the defender before looking back down to see that the sender of the message was labeled as ‘Tanc’ with the heart eye emoji. “Tanc? As in Melissa Tancredi? Tanc is the girl with the complicated past?”

Carm flushed red and grabbed the back of her neck. “Um, I, yea.”

“Does Erin know this?”

Carm nodded, “Yea, we talked about it the morning she left.”

“And she is cool with it?”

“Yea, she basically said that when she realized that she was in love with you, she was done with Mel. She said she just wants me to be happy.”

Ella just nodded.

“Please don’t hate me.”

Ella just hugged her, “I could never, ever hate you. If Erin said she was fine with it then so am I. I just want you happy too. It’s kind of weird for me to think about, but as long as you’re happy and she doesn’t hurt you then I’m okay with it.”

“Thanks Thunderfoot.”

 

Ella was sad the day they had to take Carm to the airport, but that signified that it was only a week until some of her family came up to visit them, and they were bringing up her niece so she was excited about that. Thinking about the future she smiled because this could definitely be her life after soccer.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the couple days of delay. I had some family issues that kind of sucked so I needed to focus on that.   
> Anyway here's an update! Sorry it ends kind of weird. I already have Sunday's update done and I needed to figure out where to split this one and the next one up and there really wasn't a good place to do it so it ends a bit oddly.

Ella was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t be in the stands to watch her girl play in her 100th cap, but she understood John’s reason for wanting to keep it really closed doors. The only people that were allowed in were the teams and staffs, a few photographers, and part of the media team for both sides. 

Erin wasn’t too happy about the fact that her girlfriend couldn’t watch her play, and she even asked John if she could come; twice. 

“Come on John, this is a really important moment for me, and I would really love it if she could come.” 

John shook his head with a slight smile, “This is the exact reason kid. Listen to yourself? Your head is focused on Ella, not on the game; that is why this is closed doors.”

Erin sighed she knew John was right. “Yea, yea I’m hearing myself now. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize kid,” he said as he clapped her on the shoulder, “I know it isn’t ideal for her to not be here, but I need you focused for this. Sweden is a tough team, and I purposely planned this to be your 100th because yes this is a milestone for you, but looking to focus on the cup this summer it’s important to know that while everyone on the staff and team is proud of you for reaching this, we aren’t caught up making a massive show of it just for media purposes. Does that make sense?”

Erin thought about his words, and yes she was still disappointed Ella wouldn’t be there, she definitely understood what he was saying. “Yea that makes sense.”

“Don’t worry, we will make sure that the media team filming does a great job so that Ella can see you.” John teased as he walked away.

Erin just laughed and slightly blushed. She was glad that their coach was supportive and was able to joke around like that with his players, but also he knew when he needed to keep them focused and when to be stern with them. 

Erin smiled as she saw Ella’s instagram post after her game. ~So proud of this one…100 caps for team Canada plus wearing the armband today. From Houston to the North, there isn’t another captain I respect more. ~ She left her comment thanking her, and then sent a text to the forward as well. ‘Thank you for your support baby, you inspire me to be better everyday.’

They texted back and forth for a little while until Carm came to the room to yell at her to come out with the rest of the team, so she told Ella that they would Skype tomorrow, that she was being forced out to be social when she really wanted to just keep talking to her. 

Ella just chuckled at the keeper’s text but told her she needed to go out and celebrate with her team for her 100th cap; she made sure to let her know that they would have a bit of a private celebration whenever she got back.

During the time that Erin was gone for National Team duties, Ella was focused on her rehab from her hernias. She was pretty much healed completely, but was still working with Fortius because they were helping her with movements and technical things that no other trainers had worked with her on before. She loved the environment, the facilities, and the people there. They were great to work with and she loved it. 

She had been posting a lot about training, whether it was just pictures of the field, a drill she was doing with Wes, or just tweeting about a workout. That earned a lot of teasing from a lot of her friends, specifically Carm’s text, ‘working out some frustrations? I mean I know Erin’s been gone for a little while but damn, how often do you guys go at it if you have to work out that often?’ 

Ella just shook her head at her friend, she was going to be cheeky and bring up something with Tanc, but she didn’t know if it was going well or not with all three of them in camp. She figured that they were all at least professional with each other since they were at camp, but she made a mental note to ask Erin about it later.

 

“Hey baby!” Ella said when Erin answered the Skype call.

“Good morning beautiful. What are you up to today?”

“Nothing much, I have a lighter workout planed at Fortius, and then practice with the girls at 3:30. I thought I would just kind of take it easy today. That way when you come home tomorrow I’ll be ready to take care of your tired and whiney self. I know how you get after camps. You’ll need at least 2 days to recover fully, but my family is coming up to visit in 3 days so you might have to speed up your recovery process this time so you can keep up with baby Grey.”

“I’ll do my best baby. I can’t wait to meet that chubby kid. Those pictures you sent me when you went back to visit were so cute. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“What do you guys have planned for the rest of the day?” the forward asked.

“We have a light practice, then lunch, then a film session and a final meeting. We can leave after the meeting if we want, but a lot of the girls are hanging around until tomorrow so I think I’m gonna just head back in the morning. I think Carm said something about a movie night in the conference room.”

“Speaking of Carm,” she brought up a be hesitantly, “How are things there with Mel and you and her like all in the same place?”

Erin laughed at the way Ella worded that, “It’s fine babe. Everything is great. It was a little bit awkward at first, but then I saw the way Carm was looking at her, and the way she was looking at Carm when the other wasn’t looking. It was pretty cute babe. I actually had a talk with Mel about how if she hurts Carm I was actually going to kill her. You know that I’m over her right? Like we’ve talked about this I’m yours, all yours.”

“I know baby, and I’m yours. I’m not worried about that, I just didn’t want anything to be awkward for any of you guys. I love you, and I love Carm, I’m not sure how I feel about Mel still, but I don’t want any bad feelings you know what I mean?”

“Yea I understand baby. I can’t wait to be home.”

Ella didn’t hear the door to Erin’s room open, otherwise she would not have said what she did; “I can’t wait for you to come home too, I need to show you how proud I am of you for 100 caps.”

Carm, Em, and Kaylyn immediately started making gagging noises, Erin just laughed at the timing of it all, and Ella was hiding her face in the couch.

“You guys suck. Why didn’t you tell me they were there?!” 

“They just walked in right before you said it babe. They don’t care, they know more than they really should anyway about our sex life.”

Ella just let out a groan and talked with her friends for a little while before they had to go to their practice and she had to get going to her session. 

 

Much like the scene a few weeks ago Ella was bouncing on her feet. She was excited that her niece and the rest of her family would be here for a few days. When she spotted them she took off and Erin just smiled and followed after.

After hugs were given all around Ella took her niece to carry to the car. She played with the cutie all the way to the parking lot. Erin just watched them with a look of love on her face. 

“So, when you guys gonna have one of your own?”

Erin was caught off guard, “I…uh…we…we haven’t really…we haven’t talked about it yet.”

“Hmm, you should definitely bring it up soon I think. Ella loves all of the kids in the family, and even kids that aren’t in the family and they love her too. You guys would be great parents.”

“I think she wants a ring first.”

“Then you better get on that.”

Erin was left a little bit speechless. She knows that she wants to marry Ella, hopefully soon, but saying it out loud really made her think about it for the drive back to their place. 

Once Ella’s family got settled in they just hung around the house for a little bit. They were tired from their flight so it ended up being a pretty early night for them. 

When Ella and Erin were snuggled up in bed Erin brought up what had been on her mind all day. “Hey baby?”

“Hmm?”

“Um…you uh…you want kids right?”

Ella rolled over lie on top of the keeper and tried not to laugh at the keeper, “You’re kidding right? Have you seen me with kids? Like ever? Of course I want them! Little mini you’s and me’s running around here using their charm to get cookies before dinner, us cheering at their soccer games, or whatever sport they want to play, or if they don’t want to play sports encouraging them to do what they love. Babe, we are going to be great parents when the time comes. I’m kind of surprised you had to ask that.”

Erin just smiled shyly, “I just wanted to make sure. You know I want to marry you right?”

Ella smiled and leaned over for a kiss. “I know, and I want to marry you. What’s with all this future talk?”

“Just stuff I was thinking about. I know you’ve kind of hinted at this maybe being your last season so it just sort of got me thinking about how I want this future with you as soon as possible. Like after the season we can start planning a wedding and talking about kids, like do we want to adopt, do IVF, who wants to carry, and I’m just so excited thinking about all that.”

Ella smiled, Erin was definitely the feelings one, but she wasn’t usually this vocal about it. “You are forgetting one very important step in all of this though.”

Erin looked confused, “What do you mean?”

Ella laughed and held up her left hand, “I need a ring first.”

“Of course baby.” Erin said as she wrapped her arms around the forward that was resting on top of her. Then, without warning she rolled them over so that she was now resting on top of Ella and cuddled into her. 

“Well this is a nice change. You hardly ever let me be the big spoon. We should have sappy feelings talks about the future more often if it means I get to cuddle you,” Ella said with a cheeky smirk. 

“Shut up,” she said with a yawn, “bed time. Love you.”

“Love you more.” 

~Holiday joy came a bit early-how do moms hold babies all day? My arms are tired and I’d like to think I am pretty fit. ~

“That’s a cute one,” Ella said as she stood behind Erin and rested her chin on the keeper’s shoulder. 

“She is so cute. She looks nothing like Ty though right now, I think that is hilarious.” 

“Yea she is all Megan right now, but I think she will grow into some of Ty’s features. You are seriously so cute with her, and she loves you.”

Erin just laughed, “I think she is just intrigued by my tattoo.”

Ella leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Maybe, but it’s still cute.”

 

They spent the next few days showing Ella’s brother and sister in law all around Vancouver. Tyson knew pretty quickly why his baby sister had fallen in love with the city; it was beautiful. They would definitely be coming up to visit more often. Ella and Erin made sure that they took them to not only the great tourist spots, but also the ones that they had come across as becoming locals too. 

They had to take Tyson, Megan, and baby Grey to the airport the next day and while Ella was sad to see the little family go, she was glad that they even came up to visit for the short time that they did. 

Erin made sure to hug Ella close to her as they walked back to the car. She knew how close the family was to each other, and it’s always sad to see loved ones go when you know you aren’t going to be seeing them for a while. 

 

The next few days flew by in a bit of a blur. Christmas was coming up and they had decided that they would be staying in Vancouver because Erin had camp up until a week before the holiday anyway, so they didn’t want to have to rush somewhere. Erin’s parents would be coming over later Christmas day, but that was pretty much it. They were both kind of excited to have the holiday, for the most part, to themselves. 

“I’m gonna miss you while you’re at camp. I feel like you just got back from the last one.” Ella said when they were cuddled up the night before Erin had to leave. 

“I know babe, but then I’m back for a while longer before the next little mini camp. I’ll miss you too, and I promise to take great video’s to for blackmail at the team Christmas party.”

Ella laughed and kissed the keeper before she let out a yawn. “That’s all I ask. Love you.”

“Love you more, goodnight babe.”

 

Ella waved sadly as Erin disappeared through security. She would miss her keeper, but she had a couple of surprises planned for Christmas, so this gave her the perfect opportunity to work on them.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter, but next one is a long one! :)

Ella laughed out loud at some of the pictures and videos that Erin was sending to her. It was the Canadian team’s annual Christmas party and it seemed even more crazy than usual. She received quite a few pictures and videos from multiple people on the team, and the day after the party she watched the video that Sophie made. She made sure to take get the picture of Erin and Maxwell that was used in the video and then promptly made it her lock screen. Something else that had caught her eye in the video was when Carm won the competition and immediately ran over and jumped on Tanc. Ella made a mental note to ask the keeper if anything had progressed between the two. 

It was the night before camp was over and Ella decided to Facetime with the keeper. Yeah they would be seeing each other the next day, but she didn’t want to wait for that. She missed her girl and wanted to talk to her. She knew that they had a meeting after dinner, so she waited until about 9pm to text the keeper to see if she would be up for a FaceTime call. 

“Hey, beautiful. What’s up?”

Ella smiled and blushed; she wondered if there would ever be a day that that simple compliment from the keeper wouldn’t get a reaction from her. “Hey babe. I just wanted to talk to you. If you’re tired though…”

“I’m going to stop you right there, you know I’m never too tired to talk to you. Tell me what you did today.”

Ella smiled and told her about the day she had. Even though Erin had heard about her workouts and practices so many times, she always listened like it was the most interesting thing she had heard all day. 

“The girls are pretty excited about how well they are doing. From not doing so well last season to doing great this year, they are all just really excited and wanting to continue to do better.”

“That’s great babe! I can’t wait to come back to a couple of practices.”

“And I’m sure they can’t wait to see you. Especially Soph & Mia, they have been taking those keeper work outs very seriously.”

“Great! I can’t wait to see them! How is Maddie doing?”

Ella smiled; Maddie was one of the girls who at the beginning of the season wasn’t as good as some of the other girls in the club. “She is kicking butt. She wasn’t really getting the whole winger thing, so we decided last game to try her at defense and she did so well! I wish we would have tried her there earlier!”

“That is great! Tomorrow at practice make sure you tell her that I can’t wait to see her kick butt on defense.”

“I will. How was the party? I saw Sophie’s video, looked like y’all had a blast.”

“It was great. It’s one of my favorite times at camp for sure. I was a bit miffed I didn’t win the spoon thing though.”

Ella laughed; her keeper was always a bit of a sore loser. “Yea I saw, Carm kicked all of your guys’ butts. Speaking of, I saw her celebration with Tanc every time she won anything new on that front?”

Erin smiled, “Actually yes. They went on a couple of dates, they both like where things are heading, but they want to take is slow. Like monumentally slow. They are driving everyone nuts basically.”

Ella laughed; she never imagined that Erin would be complaining that her ex was moving too slow with her best friend; funny how people and situations can change so rapidly. “I’ll make sure to tell Carm to get a move on next time I see her.”

“You do that. I’m sure she will have some sort of remark.”

Ella paused and just looked at her girlfriend who was laughing for a minute. 

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

Ella just shook her head, “I love you.”

Erin quirked an eyebrow, she loved to hear the forward say those three words, but she was curious as to what prompted them. “I love you too. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

The keeper watched as a smiled crossed Ella’s face. “Me too. I can’t wait for you and Max to be home.”

“Us too babe, us too.” Erin said and then let out a yawn.

“Go to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you more. Goodnight baby.”

 

Erin happily sighed as she collapsed on their bed next to Ella. “Man it’s good to be home.”

Ella giggled as the keeper rolled over on top of her effectively trapping her. “Babe! I have things to do, you stay here and rest, I’ll get some things done.”

“Noooo, stay here with meeeee!!” the keeper whined as she tightened her hold on Ella, “I want to cuddle with you!”

Ella just laughed harder and tried to get out of the hold Erin had her in. “Babe, come on!”

Erin turned her head and latched on tighter. She wrapped her legs around Ella’s so that she couldn’t move, then she wrapped her arms around her as well and started leaving kisses all on the side of Ella’s face and neck. “Pleeeeeease stay. I loooove youuuu.” 

Ella rolled her eyes, “fine, fine, fine, I’ll stay here and take a nap with you.”

“Yay! Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!!!”

Erin groaned and rolled over trying to find Ella’s mouth so she could shut her up. “Shhh, sleepy time.”

“But it’s Christmas!!!” 

“And it will still be Christmas in a couple hours. Sleep.”

Ella sighed and rolled over to look at the keeper. She knew that Erin wasn’t a morning person unless it was a game day. 

“Stop staring at me,” Erin mumbled into her pillow.

“Sorry.”

Erin sighed and rolled over, “No you’re not. Come on, let’s get up.”

Ella clapped happily and smiled, “yay!”

After breakfast and some gift exchanging they put their training on to go meet up with Erin’s dad at the park. The keeper had told Ella about their Christmas kick around tradition a while back and the forward made sure to keep that tradition alive. She insisted that Erin go by herself and keep the tradition alive, but Erin argued and convinced Ella to join them. 

After a while Ella took a break to give Erin and her dad some space, she made sure to take a few cute pictures of them though. 

Erin and her dad were just lightly kicking the ball back in forth.

“You’re going to marry her aren’t you?” Erin’s dad asked after a moment of silence. 

“God I hope so.”

“Me too kid. She is a good one. I’m glad you found her.”

“Thanks dad.”

He came over and hugged his daughter, and then he patted her on her back, “Now go take a break and send your girl over here. I want a minute with her.”

Erin looked at her father skeptically. “Please don’t embarrass me.”

“I won’t baby girl.”

Erin just nodded and made her way over to Ella. “I’m gonna take a break, go kick around with my dad.”

Ella looked at her questioningly, but the keeper just shrugged, “he said he wanted to talk to you. Don’t worry, he said it was good things.”

Ella just nodded and walked over there. 

“You’re going to marry my daughter aren’t you?”

Ella trapped the ball and took a moment before replying. “I hope so sir. I love her.”

He just nodded and passed the ball back. “She has told me a bit about what you went through with your father. I guess, I uh, whenever the time comes, I’ll be honored to be your father-in-law. You are a wonderful person Ella. Your father has to be so proud of you and the woman you’ve become.”

Ella let the ball roll past her and walked over to embrace the man. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me. Whenever she decides to propose, I know that I’ll be joining an amazing family.”

Erin watched the scene in front of her. She couldn’t tell what was being said, but it looked serious and emotional. When Ella walked over and hugged her dad she knew that it had to be some sentimental moment between the two. She was glad that her family loved Ella just as much as she did. She let them have a few more minutes before she went back and joined in. 

Later that night Erin asked what her father had talked with Ella about. The forward just cuddled into Erin’s side with a smile and a distant look on her face. “He said that whenever the time comes he was going to be honored to be my father-in-law.”

Erin leaned over and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you too. While we’re on the subject though, when are we going to make it official?”

Erin smiled, “You’ll know when. You know that I want to marry you, but I also don’t want to rush into that. With the season, the Cup, and then the Olympics, I wouldn’t get to be active in wedding planning, and I want to be.”

“Good answer. I want you to be involved too. I’ll be looking forward to a proposal then in the future.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being a day late! Bit of a more emotional chapter towards the end, I hope I did it justice.

Ella smiled as Max climbed up on the chair with her as she waited for Erin to finish getting ready to head over to the New Year’s Eve party they were headed to. A few of the girls on the Canada team were getting together to have a small party. Ella kind of wanted to just spend the evening with Erin, but when the keeper said that it was only Em, Carm, Tanc, Steph, Kaylyn, and Marie she figured it would be a pretty calm night. The only thing she was slightly worried about was the combination of Kaylyn and Em. Those two could get kind of rowdy at times. 

Erin walked around the corner and saw Ella playing with Max. She couldn’t help but capture a picture of the two of them. “Hey baby you ready to go?”

“Waiting on you!” she teased. 

“Yes because I neeeever have to wait on you do I?” Erin teased back as they headed out to Em’s place. 

“Oh hush, see if I give you a kiss a midnight if you keep that up.”

Erin leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Yea like you would be able to resist me.”

Ella just shrugged, “Yea, that’s probably true.”

Ella was glad that her best friend from college only lived about an hour away from their place; it was a short enough drive to go and hang out for the day if they wanted to. 

They were the last to arrive to the defender’s house, but it appeared that they hadn’t missed out on much. Things were just starting to pick up a bit as they got there. 

Throughout the night there would be calm moments where they all just sat around and talked with each other, but there were also some more hyper moments as well. Like if a song came on that someone claimed as ‘their jam’ then things would pick up a bit. It was the perfect balance of a night. 

As it got closer and closer to midnight, and much more alcohol had been consumed, Steph and Marie and Ella and Erin didn’t stray too far from each other. They didn’t want to miss their midnight kiss. Kaylyn was complaining about missing Gabe, and Em was complaining about how single she was. Then Ella looked over to where Carm and Mel were. She smiled at how nervous the two looked around each other, even with the alcohol that they had consumed. 

The forward nudged Erin to look over at them as well and the keeper smiled too. They looked on as the two curly haired women attempted to not bring up what they both wanted to happen in a couple short minutes. 

As the countdown reached 30 seconds from zero, Step and Marie decided to go ahead and get the party started and earned a lot of catcalls from the others in the room. Kaylyn plopped down on Em’s lap claiming that she wasn’t going kiss-less at midnight and that Gabe wouldn’t mind. Emily just laughed and told her to pucker up; it wasn’t the first time that teammates got drunk and kissed, and no one in the house cared about that anyway. Erin pulled Ella into her lap as there was 10 seconds left in the countdown. The keeper smiled and leaned in with 5 seconds left; the perfect end to 2014, and a wonderful start to 2015. 

Step and Marie had yet to pull themselves apart, Kaylyn and Em were laughing hysterically at each other, and Ella and Erin were smiling lovingly at each other. After a couple more small pecks Ella looked around to Carm and Tanc. 

The defender had her hands on Melissa’s hips, and the forward has hers resting on Carm’s arms, almost like she wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. They had their heads resting together and smiles on their faces. Whatever they did when the clock struck 12 was exactly what the two needed apparently. Everyone else in the room was watching them curiously at this point, but they didn’t even realize. 

Carm leaned in for one more quick peck and they pulled apart with smiles; until they realized everyone was staring at them. 

“Umm, what?” Carm asked as a blush crept over her face.

“Oh nothing,” Kaylyn said with a smirk

Em, who had a little bit more to drink than everyone else, asked what was on everyone else’s mind, “Was that your first kiss?!”

Carm and Melissa didn’t have to answer; the blush on both their faces said it all. After a moment everyone else broke out into a chorus of ‘aww’ and that caused them both to just blush harder. 

“Alright, alright,” Carm said as she wrapped her arm around the defender’s waist, “that’s enough from you all. Let’s get the real party started now.”

Kaylyn cheered and ran over to turn up the music. Thankfully Emily had almost enough space for them all to stay over, things would be a little cramped, but nothing too bad, so the girls dance and goofed off for the rest of the night. 

 

The next morning Erin was the first one up, probably because she has the least to drink. She roamed into the kitchen and decided to at least start up some coffee and see what could be done about breakfast for her hungover friends. 

Just as the coffee was ready Melissa shuffled out of the room she was sharing with Carm and Kaylyn. 

“Not too hungover?” the keeper asked.

Melissa just shook her head and accepted the cup of coffee the keeper had made for her. “I didn’t really drink too much. I, uh, wanted to remember the night.”

“Cute.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence as Erin looked around for supplies for breakfast. She had just found some pancake mix when Melissa spoke up. “You know, if I could go back and change how I ended things with you I would. What I did was awful and I’ve regretted how I went about it ever since it happened. I’m sorry.”

Erin stopped what she was doing and walked over to where Mel had sat down. “I forgive you. I forgave you the moment I realized I was in love with Ella. Yea it sucked and I was hurt, but it led me to where I am now, and I’m kind of loving where I’m at now. It kind of looks like you are too.”

Melissa nodded. “Carm was just so unexpected. We were messing around in Hawaii, being kind of flirty because we kept getting free drinks from the bar tender, who I guess was kind of a perv looking back, he thought he had a chance with both of us, and then when we left I guess we just didn’t really stop.”

“Well, you both seem happy, and that is all I care about. But I swear, if you hurt her, you’re going to have some hell to pay.”

Melissa just nodded. “I know.”

“Good, now how about we make some pancakes for the hungover zombies that are sure to emerge soon.”

 

The rest of the week had flown by, and thankfully the team still had some time off, so Ella and Erin spent as much as they could together. They went on hikes, trail rides, and any other place that had a good nature aspect. Ella was always so captivated by the scenery, and Erin loved to watch Ella’s face light up with they went somewhere new. All of the pictures for a few consecutive days that Ella posted consisted of nature from somewhere they had been recently. 

About a week before the team would have to go back to camp Ella came home from practice with her U13 team and found Erin talking on the phone. She listened as the keeper said something about a day working for them, and that Ella would be excited, so the forward was definitely intrigued now.

“Who was on the phone?” she asked as soon as Erin hung up.

Erin laughed, “Nosy much?”

“I heard my name, I’m allowed to be nosy.”

Erin rolled her eyes, “Just telling Em that we were free next weekend so we could go to the Sam Smith concert,” the keeper said casually.

“Sam Smith!! YES!!” Ella exclaimed with a fist pump and then hugged the keeper.

“I figured you would be excited for it. Em got a bunch of tickets yesterday and obviously you were on the top of the list of people to go since you two obsess over him so much. I mean your favorite song is about a one night stand soooo…”

Ella just rolled her eyes, “I slip up on one google hangout and you never let me hear the end of it. I didn’t mean the song as a whole!”

“I know babe, I just like to give you crap about it. So don’t make any plans for next Saturday night.”

“Oh! That reminds me! Em and Carm are coming over on Wednesday. We are going to do a lip sync battle! I know making fools of ourselves online isn’t totally your thing, so you can just film it if you want.”

Erin shrugged; “I might participate a little bit. But yea, looking like idiots online is definitely your guys’ thing.” 

“Alright, that’s enough from you. You know that you love it.”

“You’re right I do, but only because I love you.”

“Love you too. Oooh I have to figure out what songs I want to do!”

Erin laughed as Ella ran off to find her phone and started blasting a bunch of different songs.

 

Everyone laughed hysterically as Emily slid across the floor and fell down. “Ugh, I need to do that again. Make sure you cut that one out.”

Erin laughed and shook her head, “No way, we are having a blooper reel for sure. Between that, Ella getting so close to the camera she hit it, and Mickey running away terrified, people will end up liking that better than the actual video.”

When Ella, Erin, and Carm did their rap, Emily had a hard time holding the camera still because she was laughing so hard at the three. She didn’t know they would be changing their outfits, and it was so good. She was a bit surprised Erin decided to partake in it; this was normally something the keeper would just admire from afar. 

Later they were attempting to edit it, but they were laughing way too hard to actually get anything done really. They had all collectively decided that this was something that needed to happen way more often and Erin suggested that maybe that would be something they could do on the show in Houston this year. 

“You do know that I’m going to be missing a lot of the season though, you’re going to have to find a temporary host.”

Ella leaned on the keeper, “Ugh don’t remind me. I’m going to miss you while you’re gone, but you’re going to be kicking ass, so I guess that’s okay. Maybe I might be able to fly up at some point to watch a game, or a least hang out for a bit.”

“I’m sure we will figure something out, we have some time though to get it figured out.” 

“Well,” Emily interrupted, “If you two are done being all cute and shit we should get back to editing this disaster.”

 

“Come on babe, I’m sure you look wonderful, but Carm and Emily are waiting on us!” Erin yelled in the direction of their room.

“I’m coming! Hold on!”

Erin rolled her eyes full well knowing that Ella wouldn’t be down for another 5 minutes at least, so she made herself comfortable on the couch. 

The keeper was messing with her phone when she heard her girlfriend clear her throat. “Wow, you look great…. is that my shirt?”

“Noooo”

Erin rolled her eyes “Yea it is, but it’s okay, looks way better on you anyway. Now let’s get going, we are already later.” 

They were all having a blast at the concert. Ella and Emily were belting out all of the lyrics to all of the songs and everyone else was just laughing at them. Erin got a pretty good video of them singing along with Latch. 

When the song was over Ella looked over at Erin with a massive smile on her face. She was having a blast and Erin loved to see that smile on her face. Just when she was about to ask Carm something, the beginning chords of Stay with Me started playing. Erin chuckled before making her way over to Ella and standing behind her. She wrapped her arms around the forward’s waist, “This is your favorite. Describes your life and all,” she teased.

“Shut up. You knew what I meant.”

When the chorus hit Erin was swaying them back and forth and sang softly in Ella’s ear. She loved giving the forward shit about the google hangout incident, but she knew what Ella had meant when she brought it up, she just wasn’t sure if Ella wanted the audience to know what she had really meant, so she covered it up with the banter. 

“Oh won’t you stay with me, cause you’re all I need,” she sang softly to the forward. She knew that that was the line that Ella meant during the hang out, so she made it a point to always let the forward know that even though she teases her she knew what she meant.

“I love you.” Ella turned around and said.

“I love you too.”

They continued to slowly sway to the music as the song finished. 

When the concert was over they went back home and Ella started looking through all the pictures she had taken throughout the night. She had some pretty good shots of Sam singing, and then she had some great selfies of her and Em and her and Carm. She found her favorite picture from the night though and lingered on it a bit longer. Emily had captured a picture of them when he was singing Stay with Me and it was one of her favorite all time pictures of them. Erin was behind her with her arms settled low on the forward’s waist, Ella had her hands intertwined with Erin’s, and she had a massive smile on her face as Erin was leaning over singing in her ear. 

“What’s taking you so long babe? I’m exhausted come to bed and cuddle with me.”

Ella walked over and snuggled into the keeper. “Just looking at the picture Em sent me. It’s a good one,” she said as she showed Erin her new lock screen. 

“That is a good one. Send it to me in the morning?” she asked as she let out a yawn.

“Sure thing babe.”

 

Ella let out a soft sigh as she hit the Post button on Instagram. Today was one of the hardest days of the year for her.   
@emasar3 ~Joyeux Anniversaire Pops. #myheart. 

Erin had been wonderful to her all day. The keeper knew that this was an emotional day for her girl, and for their whole family, so she knew when she needed to give Ella space to call her other loved ones and she knew when the forward needed a shoulder to lean on. Now was one of those moments she needed a shoulder. 

“That is a great picture babe. Those rays coming through the clouds are him looking down on you and smiling. He’s got to be so proud of you babe.” 

“Thank you. Thank you for being here for me today. You’ve been exactly what I needed.”

“I’m here forever for you babe. Come here.” Erin said. The keeper was leaning against the couch and brought the forward over so that she was resting against her chest. Ella just snuggled in kissed the crook of Erin’s neck. 

“You know,” the forward started to say, “A lot of those times you catch me talking to myself I’m talking to him. I try to tell him about my days as often as I can. I talk about you a lot too.”

Erin smiled. “I hope only good things,” she said with a smile. “I figured you did that sometimes and I love that you do that.”

Ella’s phone chimed with a text and she smiled as she read it. It was from Erin’s dad ~Wishing the incredible man that raised you a Happy Birthday. He is looking down so proud of you Ella. We may not have met, but his spirit shines through in you~

Ella started sniffling and Erin was concerned immediately, “What’s wrong baby?”

Ella just handed her phone over and let the keeper read what her dad had just sent. 

“It’s true babe. His spirit does shine through in you. I’m with my dad on this one.”

“You guys are just so great to me, your whole family is. Today is a hard day and everyone in my family usually calls or texts each other, and that happened, but your family made sure to text me too. I got a cute little snapchat from Lily and Malcolm too. They just make me feel like such a part of your family too.”

“You are a part of my family. Sure it’s not technically, like in writing yet, but from the moment they all met you you’ve been a part of this family. They know that whenever we get married they are going to be gaining a wonderful daughter, so they have just decided to not even wait until it ‘official’. Your family has done the same with me.”

Ella sighed happily and leaned into the keeper more. “I’m so happy right now; with everything. I normally don’t feel that emotion today, but I do and it’s wonderful.”

“I’m glad. You’ve had a bit of an emotionally tiring day do you want to head to bed?”

Ella nodded, “Yea, you go ahead I’ll be there in a minute. I kind of want a couple minutes with my dad.”

Erin smiled, kissed her cheek and then got up, “Take as much time as you want. I’ll be there when you’re ready.”

Ella nodded and watched the keeper leave. She started quietly talking about her day and how much she missed him. She usually had longer conversations with him on days like today, but something felt a bit off. When she mentioned Erin it clicked. 

Ella made her way into the room and got under the covers with Erin. 

“That was quicker than I thought.” The keeper said

Ella just shook her head. “I’m not done. I thought, um, maybe that, uhhh….” She stuttered trying to get the words out with out making Erin feel like she had to do what she was going to suggest, “I thought maybe you might want to hear me too, and um, if you want to, you totally don’t have to, but if you wanted to, you could talk to him too,” she finished shyly.

A smile lit up the keepers face. “I would absolutely love that. You know, I’ve never told you this, but anytime we are apart and one of us is flying somewhere I always ask him to watch over us, and I always thank him for getting you back to me safe.”

“Really?”

Erin nodded, “Yea.”

Ella leaned over for a kiss, and then she cuddled into the keeper’s side as she picked up where she left off with her dad.

They spent the next hour or so talking to him, and when Ella’s voice drifted off she knew her girl was fast asleep. “Thanks for bringing her into my life,” the keeper said with a smile as she fell asleep shortly after.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello super lovely humans. I very much appreciate you all. Finals are over, school is over, and summer is here! My goal is to get an update out at least once a week during the summer so yay! With that being said I do have a job that takes up a good chunk of time so when that kicks in full force updates might be skewed a bit but I will try my best!

Ella woke up with a smile on her face to the feeling of kisses along her cheek neck. “Mmm, Happy Valentines Day.”

Erin smiled and gave the forward a quick peck, “Good morning my love. Happy Valentines Day. Do you want to get the day started yet, or do you want to relax in bed for a little bit longer?”

Ella rolled on top of the keeper, “Well, what do you have planned today? You live for this day so you can do all the spoiling that you love. Do we need to get the day started yet?”

Erin laughed at how well Ella knew her. She did love spoiling Ella, and Valentines Day and Ella’s birthday were the only days she could really get away with doing big, extravagant things. “Well, I have some stuff for breakfast ready, we can either make it together or you can relax in bed and I’ll make it and we can have breakfast in bed. Which ever one you want.”

“Let’s make it together, it’s a nice day we can eat outside on the balcony.”

Erin rolled out of bed and held her hands out for Ella, “right this way then my love.”

When they got to the kitchen Ella smiled at all the stuff Erin had pulled out. There was pancake mix, fruit, eggs, and a bag of chocolate chips. It was a special occasion when the opportunity for chocolate chip pancakes arose, so Ella would be taking full advantage of the bag of chocolate chips today. “Babe! This all looks great! And you even got me chocolate chips!”

Erin leaned over for a quick peck, “Anything for you,” she said with a cheesy smile.

“Love you,” the forward replied with a smile of her own.

“Love you more. Now get started on cutting up some fruit and I’ll start the pancakes.”

“Sounds good!”

They moved around the kitchen, and each other, with ease. Erin would take bites of fruit as Ella cut it up, and the forward would sneak chocolate chips when she thought Erin wasn’t paying attention. 

“You know, if you keep eating the chocolate I won’t have enough to actually put in the pancakes.”

Ella just pouted and played innocent, “I have no idea what you could be talking about. We both know I would never do that.”

Erin just shook her head and laughed, “Yea, of course, You? Steal chocolate? Never.”

Ella leaned over and stole a kiss, “Glad we got that cleared up now. You almost done with the pancakes?”

“Yea,” the keeper replied, “you can go head and take some of that other stuff outside and I’ll be out in a minute with the pancakes.”

“Okay.” 

Erin smiled as she watched Ella walk outside and then turned back to concentrate on the pancakes. She had made a small stack of normal ones, but she wanted to try and make a couple that were in the shapes of hearts. After a couple of failures she finally got a few close enough to resemble hearts. The keeper smiled at her accomplishment and then made her way out to the balcony to join her girl. 

She slid one of the heart shaped pancakes on to Ella’s plate while she was getting some fruit and waited for the forward to see it. 

“Babe! This is so cute! Who knew you were such an artist in the kitchen too. I love it.”

“Thank you. It took me a few tries to get it right, but I wanted to be able to do it.”

“Best morning ever.” Ella said as she leaned over for a kiss. The forward then got up and pulled out her phone. 

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a picture of our wonderful masterpiece.”

“You know if you post that people are going to talk, especially if you get me in it. That collage you posted yesterday was pretty sneaky; it took a while for people to see that I was in one of the pictures.”

Ella snapped the picture and rolled her eyes at the keeper, “When will you realize that I don’t care that people are talking. We don’t owe an explanation to anyone. I have no reservations about posting anything about you or us. Sure I don’t use the words girlfriend or partner in my posts, but that’s just because it’s no ones business but ours.”

“You’re right, and I’m glad you are comfortable enough to post things even with some of the more intrusive fans that are out there. I just worry that some people might not be so nice about it, and I don’t want you to have to experience that.” 

Ella walked over and sat in Erin’s lap. “I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m going to say next okay?” she waited for Erin to nod before continuing, “The only comments I care about are the positive ones from fans and the dorky ones that our friends post. Nothing negative matters to me.”

“Alright. I hear you. Let me see the picture then.” She said with a smile. 

They ate breakfast and Ella tried to figure out what they would be doing for the rest of the day, but Erin wasn’t going to ruin the plans that she had. Last year’s Valentines Day was a pretty big one for them, there was a lot going on, so this year she wanted a more calming one. The keeper had planned for them to go hiking for most of the day and then had a nice dinner planned out for later. She had to spend a lot of the holiday last year with other people, which was totally fine because they all had a blast, but she wanted it to be just them this year. 

 

After breakfast the forward once again asked what was happening. This time Erin told her to get dressed for a hike because she knew once she told the forward what she needed to wear for the day Ella would realize that a hike or some other outdoors activity would be happening. 

During their time in Canada they had discovered a lot of really beautiful places to hike, but Erin stumbled upon a surprising one a few weeks back. It was a little park that they passed all the time going to one of their favorite spots, but if you stepped into the woods in a certain area at the edge of the park there was a little bit of a trail. Erin curiously followed it one day that Ella had a work out at Fortius and immediately knew she had to take the forward there. When she realized Valentines Day was coming up the keeper figured this would be the perfect place to bring Ella. 

“The park?” Ella asked as they started walking through the grass. 

“I stumbled upon something pretty cool about this little park a couple weeks ago. Just trust me on this.”

They made their way over to where the park met the edge of the woods and Erin looked around a moment before spotting the small trail. “Come on.”

“Is this even a real trail?” Ella asked skeptically. 

“I told you to trust me, remember?”

“I trust you, you know that.”

Erin smiled because she could hear in the inflection of Ella’s voice that she meant more than just trusting her about the trail. She held out her hand to the forward, “Come on then.” 

The trail started off a bit rough, but after about half a mile it opened up into a clearing and that is where a different trail started. 

“Whoa.”

“See? I told you it was cool.”

“This is awesome! How did you find this?”

“I took Max on a walk and he chased a bird into the woods, and then we found the trail. The first time I didn’t actually make it to the clearing, but something told me I should go back, so I did and found this. It isn’t a very challenging trail or anything, but its view is amazing.”

“It is pretty amazing. This will be a good trail for recovery days.” 

They spent most of the late morning and afternoon on the trail. Neither of them were worried about getting to the end of the trail, they just appreciated their time together and enjoyed the sites around them. 

“I know we said we weren’t going to get each other gifts this year, and I didn’t buy you anything so technically you can’t get mad at me.”

Ella just laughed, “I figured you would find your way around that, so what did you do?”

Erin pulled open her backpack and took out a small notebook. She handed it over to Ella without any explanation and just nodded at her to open it. 

The book was very worn out so Ella opened it gently. It took her a moment before realizing what was written. 

“You…. you sure you want me to read this?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have given it to you if I didn’t want you to read it.”

Ella smiled and looked at the first page. It was dated about a month before Erin moved to Chicago for the inaugural NWSL season. 

“I know I’m in my head a lot, and I don’t always articulate things well. You are always so good to me about it. You know when I need space, and you know when I need you closer. I write a lot of stuff down to try and organize my thoughts and feelings, and this journal is the one where I’m discovering my feelings for you. It was really complicated for me in the beginning, and I needed to get my thoughts in order. I know I told you a good portion of what I was feeling when I got together, but I thought you might like to see the parts that I didn’t really articulate well.”

“Thank you for letting me see into your thoughts like this. It really does mean a lot to me that you trust me with this. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Erin had planned for them both to get massages and then they went out for a nice dinner. Even though this year’s Valentines Day was a lot more laid back than the previous year, it was exactly what they both needed. When you lead a life where you are constantly on the go, it is nice to take some time to step away and just relax. 

 

“Babe!” Erin called as she came back home from a meeting with Peau de Loup, “where are you?” 

“Balcony!” Ella called back. 

Erin made her way outside and smiled at Ella and Max eating lunch. 

“I didn’t know you would be home this early, I thought you were going to be there for a while longer. I would have made you food too.”

Erin leaned down for a kiss, “It’s okay, I figured that so I grabbed some food on the way back. I have a proposition for you though.”

“Shoot.”

“How would you feel about going down to the PDL shop with me on Thursday to design a shirt? We were talking today and we want to expand a little bit and get a look that might be a little bit more feminine than just the flannels and solids and I thought you would be a good person to bring in so we could design something a with a bit of a feminine flair. Do you want to do that?”

“Really!? Yea! I would love to!”

“Yea? Awesome!”

“Ooooh will I get to name it too?” the forward asked excitedly. 

“Maybe. We’ll see how good it is.” Erin teased her. 

“Shut up, I’ll have you to help me so I know it will be good.”

“You don’t need my help for it to be good baby,” the keeper replied with a kiss to Ella’s cheek. 

“Racking in the brownie points I see so you won’t feel bad when you have to tell me that my design sucks.”

“I’m sure that won’t happen,” she said as she picked up Ella and then set her back down on her lap. “What else do you have planned for today?”

“I have a workout at Fortius at 3 but other than that I don’t really have plans.”

“Okay good. I wanted to make you dinner tonight so that works out great then. I’m pretty sure we need to do some grocery shopping anyway, so now I can get stuff for dinner.”

“Perfect.”

 

Erin was in the kitchen cooking when she heard Ella come in and drop her bag by the door. “Hey baby how was the workout?”

“Tiring. Ready for a shower and then a relaxing dinner with my two loves.”

Erin pulled the forward back and gave her a kiss. “There, now you can go shower. I needed a kiss first.”

Ella leaned back in and gave her a deep kiss. “How about that then.” 

“Well now I want to join you in the shower, but I worked on this for the last hour and I do not want it ruined, but just know that you are killing me,” Erin said with a pout.

Ella stepped in closer and trapped the keeper against the counter; “Maybe I’ll thank you for this lovely dinner in a more intimate way a little later tonight,” she said with a wink and then retreated to their room

“Uuuggh you can’t do that to me!” Erin shouted after her.

All she got in response was laughter. 

After about 20 minutes dinner was almost done and Ella walked out to the kitchen in a pair of Erin’s Penn State shorts, a Canada cut off, and her wet hair draped over one shoulder. 

“Are you trying my self control or something,” Erin complained as Ella walked in. 

Ella decided to play innocent. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” she said with a smile.

“Yea, sure you don’t. Dinner is almost ready, would you mind setting the table?” 

“Sure thing babe.”

They talked about their days during dinner and Erin informed Ella more about what the goal for the new shirt for Peau de Loup was. Ella was excited that the keeper thought she would be good enough to help with the new design. She loved how passionate Erin was about the brand, and she had met the other girls a few times and they were always a blast to hang out with. It was no wonder that Erin fit in so well with them and loved the company. Erin loved clothes, and the PDL family seemed like the perfect fit for the keeper. 

After dinner the keeper told Ella to pick out a movie so that they could just cuddle and relax for the rest of the night. They just talked about anything and everything that came to their minds as the movie played in the background until Ella claimed she was tired.

Ella also came through with her promise to thank her girl in a more intimate way later that night in bed. 

 

When Thursday came around Ella was greeted enthusiastically at the PDL HQ as Erin called it. Becky Adele and Kat were all excited to bring her on the team for the design of the new shirt. When Erin told her about wanting her advice on a new more feminine shirt Ella immediately started thinking of ideas. She described it as best she could to Erin, who was going to sketch it out, and even brought a couple tops from her own closet to sort of show some details of what she thought would be good. 

Once Erin was done with her rough sketch they took it over to the design team and they got right to work on finding fabrics that would work out well with the idea of the shirt. 

Everyone seemed really pleased with what Ella came up with, and they told them that the prototype shirt would probably be done by Monday, so they could come back then and see what a finished product would look like. 

Ella was excited that everyone seemed to genuinely like what she came up with. She knew that if it really was awful the keeper would have let her know in some way, so she felt really good about what she designed. 

 

Ella was bouncing around all weekend waiting to go back to the PDL HQ to see the finished product. Erin had to take her out on multiple hikes and nature walks with Max just so she could get rid of some of the energy that the forward had. 

They were cuddled in bed Sunday night and Erin was exhausted. She had to take Ella on two separate outings today just so that she could keep the energy at a normal level. 

“Babe?” Ella asked quietly as Erin was starting to drift off.

“Hmm.”

“What if it looks awful?”

“Baby, we wouldn’t have approved the shirt if it wasn’t good. We get to see it in the morning, just go to sleep and then when you wake up we will go look.”

Ella rolled over closer to the keeper in cuddled in further, “I love you.”

“Love you more.”

 

“Well?” Erin asked, “What do you think? How do you like your shirt?”

Ella just continued to look in the mirror with a smile on her face. “I can’t believe I sort of designed this. This is so cool! I’m wearing a shirt that I helped design!”

Erin laughed; it looked like Ella finally really understood why she loved designing clothes so much. “Let me take a picture of you and we can post it on the PDL page to introduce the new ‘Ella’ top.”

The forward spun her head around to look at Erin, “Really? Its name is Ella? That is so cool! I have a shirt named after me!”

Erin laughed and snapped the picture to post. “If this does well in the campaign it will be in the official Peau de Loup collection. Congrats.”

Ella smiled over to the keeper, “Thank you for thinking of me and encouraging me to do this. I can see why you love it so much now.”

“You’re welcome baby. You did great with this one, I’m sure we will want you to design more in the future too.” 

 

When they got home Ella laughed at all the comments the CanWNT members were giving, and even smiled when Erin posted some flirty stuff of her own. 

The day showed a bit of a glimpse of what their future after soccer could look like, and Ella absolutely loved it.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have a timeline that I use as kind of a guide and I know this is a bit of filler stuff but next chapter will have some good stuff! 
> 
> Hint: my timeline says 'ELLA FUCKING MASAR AND HER LOVELOVELOVE BLOG' next :) So good stuff to come next week in that chapter :D

Ella had her arms around Erin’s waist and her head buried in the keeper’s neck as they stood in the airport. The keeper was once again leaving for the Cyprus Cup, and Ella would be making her way down to Houston in a couple of days. This was always the longest they were separated, and usually the most difficult to plan FaceTime sessions. Between the time differences, practices, games, and Ella getting settled in Houston again, they would probably be luck if they got to consistently talk every other day. 

Ella always seemed to get a bit more clingy leading up to a time where they would have to be apart for a while, but this time around she seemed extra clingy, and Erin wasn’t quite sure why. She had tried to get the forward to open up about it on a few separate occasions, but never had any luck. She wanted to let Ella bring it up on her own, but since they were at the airport and the forward still hadn’t said anything Erin decided to bring it up.

The keeper kept Ella wrapped in her arms, “Hey babe?”

“Hmm?” Ella mumbled into Erin’s neck.

“I need to talk to you for a minute, and I need you to be honest with me okay?”

“Okay,” Ella said a bit hesitantly. 

“What’s been going through your head this whole week? You’ve been a bit more, um, clingy, than usual, and I know that something is going on because I know you. Please tell me what’s going on.”

Ella just buried herself further into the keeper and mumbled something into her neck. 

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.”

Ella slightly pulled back before looking down faintly embarrassed, “I said it’s just something dumb.”

“Baby, if it’s in your head the way it has been than it isn’t dumb. Nothing that is bothering you will ever seem dumb to me okay?”

Ella just nodded, “I don’t really know how to put it all into words though, that is what is bothering me the most. I’m sorry I’ve been a bit clingy, being close to you usually helps me sort these things out.”

Erin led them over to some chairs so that they could sit down and talk, “Hey I don’t mind the clingy one bit. You’ve told me before that it helps, so don’t apologize for that. I don’t want to leave you though knowing that something is bothering you. What can I do to help you sort this out before I have to leave?”

The forward leaned her head onto Erin’s shoulder and started playing with their intertwined hands. “I don’t know if there is anything you can do. I know that this is a me thing that I have to figure out. I just, I don’t know, I think I’m getting there, and as weird as this is going to sound, I think you being gone for a little bit might help actually.”

“Really?” Erin asked a bit shocked. They had multiple conversations in the past where Ella would make it clear that she always gathered her thoughts better when she was close to the keeper. Some of the harder conversations that they have had to had were done when they were cuddled in bed wrapped up in each other, so the keeper was a bit shocked when Ella said that while she was gone it might help. “Well babe, whatever works then I guess. Can you at least tell me what it is about? Should I be worried about anything?”

Ella smiled and leaned over for a kiss, “I don’t think you need to worry, like I said it’s kind of a me thing I need to work on. I’m just learning a little bit more about myself and I’m trying to process it all. I promise though I will let you know when my epiphany happens. I don’t want you going into Cyprus preoccupied with me though, you need to be focused on the team.”

Erin smiled and rolled her eyes, “How many times do I have to tell you that I’ll always be worried about you.”

Ella plastered a cheesy grin on her face and turned her head that was on Erin’s shoulder so that she was looking at the keeper, “I love you.”

“I love you too. You promise I don’t need to worry about whatever this is going on with you?”

“I swear. You focus on the team and winning that tournament then all your World Cup prep for a bit before you come down to Houston with Max and I for a little bit before you have to leave again to win the World Cup.”

Erin sighed when she caught a glimpse at the clock; she had to get going soon. “Okay, but promise me you’ll let me know if you need to talk about whatever it is that is going on.”

“I promise. Now, you need to get going, and I need to get back to Max. Let me know when you get to the hotel, and maybe we can find a time to Skype tonight, if not we will tomorrow though. I love you, and kick ass.”

“I love you more. You keep working so that you can score some more goals this season. Whip our rookies into shape too. I’ll miss you.”

“Not as much as I’ll miss you.”

Erin leaned down for a kiss, “Impossible.”

“Babe, you have to get going or you’ll miss your flight.”

Erin wrapped the forward in her arms, “Just a little bit longer.”

 

Ella stared at her picture and the caption for a few minutes before hitting the post button. This would pretty much confirm that they were together and she wasn’t completely sure she was ready to deal with some of the negative backlash that would come her way, but then she thought about how incredibly happy she was. She didn’t care what people said about her anymore, she was happy and that’s all that mattered to her, so after taking a breath she hit the post button.

~Wishing my incredible partner (some could say in crime) a very Happy (Cyprus) Birthday. Cheers to the best year yet. #lovelovelove~

She wasn’t sure when the keeper would have the chance to see the picture, but she knew that when Erin did see it she would be getting a call, or FaceTime request as soon as they could get their schedule to match up so that she could calm Erin down. She greatly appreciated that the keeper wanted to protect her from the negativity that would come with them coming out as a couple, but she wanted to let everyone know that she had found her other half. 

That was also a bit of what was going on in her head. She knew that she wanted to be open about her relationship with Erin soon, but she didn’t want the focus to shift from the keeper competing in a World Cup to the fact that she was in a relationship with her club teammate; that is what she was struggling with. 

As she thought about different ways to come out her phone notified her that Erin had liked the picture. She was anticipating a message that would request a call, but instead Erin surprised her with just sending a message of thanks and love then she asked if they were still on for their regularly scheduled FaceTime date later that night for Erin, early evening for Ella. The forward responded that they were, she figured Erin would just talk to her about it when they talked. She knew that Erin had afternoon training then a team meeting after dinner, and she had an early workout at Fortius so that meant they got about an hour or two, depending on the day, to talk face-to-face if their schedules stayed consistent.

Erin was already in bed for the night when the FaceTime call connected. “Hey beautiful.”

“Happy Birthday my love.”

“Thank you. That picture that you posted is one of my favorites of us. I loved it.”

Ella quirked her eyebrow up, “Really? Because normally you have a little speech prepared asking if I was sure that I wanted to post, or caption it the way that I did, and ‘you know people are going to ask questions and make assumptions’ and that whole dialogue you usually give me.”

Erin smiled shyly, “I just want to…”

“Protect me from the hate,” Ella interrupted, “I know, and I love you for that, but I think I can handle it. For every bad one there is there are like 20 great, positive comments. I just focus on those.”

“Good. I’m glad that is what you do. How was your morning?”

“It was pretty good. I’m feeling really good after my work out, I just ate, and I think Max and I are going to go on a hike a little later. I kind of like how you are ahead of me now because usually I’m the one all cuddled up in bed and you are on until I fall asleep, now it’s the other way around and I get to look at you all cute and cuddled up. How was your day? They didn’t make you work too hard on your birthday I’m sure.”

Erin just laughed. “It was good. We all went on a walk this morning along the coast, had an afternoon session that turned into a film session when it started to storm, so we did some weight training after lunch. Then we had a meeting after dinner, I got a pie to the face, and then the best part of the day happened.”

“Oh yea what was that?”

“Right now, I’m getting to see your beautiful face.” Erin said with a wink.

“Thousands of miles away and you still manage to make me blush,” the forward said as she shyly looked down.

“I hope I never stop either.”

“Ugh, you’re too cute. Here I was going to talk to you about you day and your birthday and training and stuff, but you have me like this now,” she said as she gestured to her slightly pink face. 

“I’m sorry babe.”

“No you aren’t.”

“You’re right,” Erin replied, “I’m not sorry at all.”

They continued to talk for a while before Erin started yawning.

“Why don’t you get some sleep now babe. You have early morning training tomorrow right?”

Erin nodded and yawned again, “Yea early session, lunch, film, weights, dinner, and then a meeting. I’ll be able so get on again tomorrow night around the same time. What does your schedule look like?” 

“Basically the same as today, but Randy said he was going to call tomorrow afternoon, so we can plan on the same time and if something changes I will let you know.”

“Sounds like a plan babe. I love you, have a good rest of the day.”

“I love you too. Sleep well.”

Ella closed her computer with a smile on her face and got Max ready to go for a hike. While she they were out on the hike, she wondered why Randy was going to call. They had talked for a little while last week to clarify the date she would be down, and Ella informed him of the date of Erin’s sister’s wedding and asked if it would be possible to get a couple days off for that, so maybe he was calling to give her the okay, or not, with that.

 

It was about an hour before Erin would be calling to FaceTime when Randy called the next day. 

“Hey coach. What’s up?”

“Hey Ella, I just wanted to let you know that those dates you gave me for Cara’s wedding will be fine for you to miss. It will still be in pre-season, and I know about all the work you’ve put in this off-season.”

“Thanks coach, it means a lot that you’re letting me do this.”

“Of course, it’s an important event. That really isn’t the reason I wanted to talk to you today though.”

“Okay, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Well, obviously last season Erin was our captain, and she will be gone for most of the season if all goes well for Canada, so we need to pick a new captain for this season. I’ve been calling most of the veterans of the team to ask their opinions on the matter.”

“Okay, well I think that…”

“Ella,” Randy interrupted, “they all said they want you as captain, and I agree with them. So, if you’re up for the job, it’s yours.”

“Really?”

Randy had to chuckle a bit at the disbelieving tone in Ella’s voice. “Yes really. You were a rock for us last season, and you know how to lead a team, on and off the field. It really wasn’t a hard choice for anyone to make.”

“Wow. Thank you. I really appreciate this.” 

“We all knew that this was the right choice. Look forward to seeing you in a few days Captain.”

“Thanks coach.”

Ella hung up with a smile on her face. It meant a lot to her that everyone believed in her enough to choose her as the captain. She was a bit nervous, Erin was a fantastic captain for them, so she hoped that she would be good enough. The nerves went away a little bit though when she thought about the fact that everyone, including Randy all picked her. It felt good to know that her teammates trust her as a captain.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when her laptop started to ring signaling Erin’s call. 

“Hey babe!” Ella said as she answered the call with a smile.

“Well hey there, what’s got you all smiley?”

“Nothing just excited to see my wonderful girlfriend’s face.”

“Mhmm, your compliment is much appreciated, but there is more isn’t there?”

“Maaaybe.”

Erin laughed, “Tell me babe!”

“Well I got off the phone with Randy a little bit ago, and he approved of me taking some days off for Cara’s wedding, but I don’t want the rookies to think that their captain is getting special treatment.”

Ella watched as it took Erin a moment to catch on to what she said.

“You’re going to be the captain! Ella that is so great! You deserve it babe. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, I just hope I can be as good as you were last season.”

“You are going to be 10 times better I bet.” Erin said sincerely. “How did Randy tell you?”

“Well he said that since you would be gone for most of the season that he was calling some of the veteran players to get their opinion on who they think should be caption so I was going to tell him that I thought Steph would be a good choice but before I could say anything he interrupted and told me that everyone he had already called said me; and he said he agreed.”

“Well he would be silly not too. Ella, you are going to be a great captain.”

“Thanks babe.”

“Really Ella, the team is lucky they have you to lead them. I know you are going to do great.”

“Thank you. I can’t wait for the season to start.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to be a special season. I know I’m not going to be there for a big portion of it, but I just have a feeling.”

“Me too. It’s going to be a good one. I love it up here, but I’m kind of itching to get back to Texas for a bit.”

“I know, our cute little house, I kind of miss it too. Max is going to have be trained to be a guard dog if you’re going to be in the house alone.”

Ella laughed at the thought of Max being mean to anyone, he was one of the happiest dogs she had ever met, “Yea, I’m sure that would work out well. Our boy isn’t exactly intimidating.”

Erin laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Wait,” Ella said, “are you really worried about me alone in the house? “

Erin blushed a little bit but nodded. “Kind of, I know it’s silly, but you know how I am. I just want to be there to take care of you.”

“You’re sweet babe. You don’t have to worry though. I mean, we do have two rooms though; I could always get a roomie if I need one too.”

“I know that I don’t have to worry, but I do anyway. I was actually thinking of suggesting opening up our other room, it would definitely help out with some of the rookies that aren’t making much.”

“That is a really good idea actually. I’ll talk to Randy and some of the staff about it.”

“Perfect, so tell me about the rest of your day.”

They got to talk for about an hour and a half before Ella had to get to one of her last training sessions at Fortius before leaving for Houston. The forward was going to miss Vancouver, but she was excited to get back to playing for Houston. She felt fully recovered from the hernia’s she had earlier in the year, and she could tell that this year was going to be something special.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my longest chapter to date. Normally I shoot for about 3k words per chapter, which ends up around 6 pages total, this one ended up being 13 full pages. I really hope I did it justice. Thanks for reading it over Jordan! 
> 
> Also if you haven't read it yet, I 100% recommend Ella's blog post. http://www.pitchsidereport.com/2015/03/17/ella-masar-love-entry-25/

“I think I want to come out, like officially, write a blog or something about it. And I’ve been thinking about this for a couple weeks now because I don’t know what exactly to say, but I know I want to do it. But I don’t know if Erin wants to do it. I mean it’s a World Cup year, and the press can be relentless sometimes so what if they just say it’s just for more attention or something. I don’t want that to happen. But I’m starting to go crazy by not officially saying anything about it.”

Finally Ella took a breath and waited.

“Well hello to you too sister. Do you have anything on your mind that you might want to share?” Liza asked in a teasing voice.

“Ugh. Hello wonderful sister of mine, you got a minute to talk.”

“Always for you. So you want to come out huh? Like officially make a statement and stuff since everyone else already pretty much suspects you’re together.”

“Yea, I just don’t know how, or what to say, and I don’t want to take away anything from Erin either ya know? Like she is about to play in a World Cup and I want all the media to focus on that, not our relationship. But I also don’t want to not talk about it because she has told me about all the emails she gets, and kids coming up to her thanking her for coming out because now they have a role model. I want to be that for young girls, maybe even older girls, ya know? What if I had someone like me to look up to? Maybe it wouldn’t have been so difficult for me to accept that I had been attracted to Erin, or for me to tell you guys.” 

“Ella?”

“Yea?”

“This is something you need to talk with Erin about, not me. You two are the ones that are going to be affected most by it. You need to talk to her. Tell her how you are feeling about all this okay?”

Ella took a deep breath, “Okay, yea. You’re right. I want to wait until we are in person though. I go up in a couple days for Cara’s wedding so I’ll talk to her about it then. Thanks for letting me get all that out Liza.”

“No problem El. Feel free to call and rant whenever. However, knowing you, you are going to probably do some spur of the moment official tweet or instagram post, so ya know maybe let the rest of us know when you post something.”

Ella just laughed because her sister was probably correct, it would be something done on the fly, “I’ll do my best to let you know before something goes up, if something goes up, or I will let you know as soon after as I can.”

“Good, now go finish packing for your quick little trip up to see your girl.”

“Love you Liza.”

“Love you too. Call me when you land in Canada.”

“Will do.”

Ella hung up with a smile on her face. She wasn’t sure if she would end up coming up or not, but she did feel better after talking to her sister. Now she just had to focus on what exactly she wanted to say to Erin to bring up the subject because she knew that if she didn’t post something then when the documentary came out for the Canadian team that they would be out, Erin did introduce her as her girlfriend, but she still wanted to kind of post something about it before that happened so there wouldn’t be questions coming in left and right just before the World Cup started. 

Ella got settled into bed and thought about just how much her life had changed. She really couldn’t wait to tell the world how happy she was with Erin; she just wanted to make sure that it was in a way that they both wanted. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Ella grabbed her bag she walked as fast as she could to where Erin said she was waiting for her. The keeper was waiting out in the car because her day off didn’t start until later that night. John let her go get Ella, but she had to be back for a team meeting that night. Ella would be staying in Erin’s room at Fortius for the night, and then the two would head out the next morning for Cara’s wedding. 

Ella practically took off running when she saw the keeper leaning against her jeep with a smile on her face. 

“I missed you.” Erin said quietly once her arms were securely wrapped around Ella’s waist.

“Not as much as I missed you,” the forward replied back. 

“Impossible.”

Ella pulled back with a smile and leaned up for a kiss. The forward tried to keep it short and sweet, she knew Erin had to be back for her meeting, but when their lips met she got lost in the kiss. It wasn’t until a car alarm went off somewhere else in the parking lot that they pulled apart. 

“It feels nice to be home,” Ella said as she got in the car and took the keepers hand, and the meaning of ‘home’ was not lost on the keeper. She knew that Ella meant that she was her home, not a city. 

“Yea, it does. I’m glad I get you with me for a little bit. I know that these next few months are going to be a bit rough with being apart so much, but these moments we get together make it that much more worth it.”

Ella just smiled and brought their hands up so that she could press a kiss to Erin’s palm. 

They rode in a comfortable silence for a little while with Erin just softly singing along to the radio. Then, when they were about halfway back to the training grounds Erin turned down the music, “I almost forgot to ask. How is whatever it is that you said was going on in your head before I left? Did you figure things out?”

Ella smiled, “I think I did, or at least I know what I need to say, I think, but that can wait until after we get back and after you go to your meeting. I might be a bit of a long conversation.”

Erin just raised an eyebrow, telling her it would be a long conversation was not doing anything to ease her worries. “Long?”

“Not in a bad way! I promise, that just came out wrong. It will be a good one…I think.”

“Okay babe, whatever you say.” Erin replied as they got closer to the training grounds. “Are you going to just hang out in my room when we are at the meeting, or will you be taking a walk down to that little café that you love?”

Ella smiled, “Probably taking a walk, want me to bring you back one of those pastries?” the forward asked as she parked the car.

Erin leaned over for a kiss, “Yes please.”

“You got it, now get to your meeting, and I’ll see you after okay?”

“Yes ma’am!” Erin mock saluted and then started walking to the conference room, and then she stopped when she heard Ella clear her throat.

“Forgetting something?” she asked cheekily.

Erin smiled and closed the gap between them to give her a kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” The forward said with a smile.

Ella loved the feeling of being back in Canada. A couple of years ago she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else besides Chicago. That is where she had considered it home for so many years, but the last couple years shifted her perspective. Now she couldn’t see herself anywhere but Canada after her playing days were over. 

The forward sat down at the café and ordered her usual. She knew that their meetings typically lasted about an hour and a half so she knew that he had a bit of time to relax and think about how exactly to bring up the conversation of coming out with Erin. On the plane ride she had decided to try to organize her thoughts by writing, like she had seen Erin do so many times, but it didn’t really work out the way she had hoped. She ended up just making a pro con list instead and it wasn’t until she was almost at the bottom of the pro side that she had only written one con; ‘Negative comments from people.’ It was a bit of a cop out though because every now and again when she posted a picture with Erin there were some not so great comments, but for every negative one there were 30 positive ones. 

Before she had realized it her alarm was going off to signal it was probably time to head back to Fortius. She walked back knowing that the conversation she was going to have would be a massive step forward in their relationship.

Ella got back right when the team was being released to she waited around and talked to most of the girls while waiting for Erin, who Carm told her was talking to John for a bit since she would be missing a few days. She was talking with Emily when she felt Erin’s arms wrap around her waist. 

“Well, I’ll let you two go so Erin can ‘pack’ is what I’m going to think is happening. So tell Cara that the team sends love and congrats and we will see you when you get back.” Emily said as she leaned over to hug them both.

Erin laughed when she said that ‘packing’ would be happening, but her and Ella had long since been able to just ignore when their teammates joked that they were having sex. “Later Em.”

When they got back into the room Erin flopped down on the bed and opened her arms up for Ella, “Alright, let’s get to talking.”

Ella smiled and snuggled into Erin. “I want to officially come out about us, like soon. Make a blog post or do an interview with one of the reporters that we know maybe, I don’t know what exactly, but I want to do it and I kind of what to do it soon.”

Ella paused for a breath and Erin could tell that she wasn’t quite done yet, so she just patiently waited while the forward got the rest of her words together.

“But I don’t want to take anything away from you going to the World Cup because that is going to be the most important thing going on, not who you are dating and the media could twist it and make it seem like we are coming out just because there is a lot of attention on you or something and I don’t want that to happen. But I want to be officially out to the public with you and I don’t know if I would be able to wait until after the Cup because I want to tweet about how much I love you or miss you. I want to post a picture of me at your game in your jersey, and I don’t want there to be any questions that you are mine and I’m yours ya know?” 

Ella let out a deep breath, so Erin knew that meant she was finished rambling. 

“Okay,” the keeper said.

“Okay? Okay to what? I said a lot of words just then, you gotta give me more than just okay.”

Erin laughed and pulled her in closer, “Okay to coming out. Do it. Write your blog post or do your interview, whatever you want.”

“But what if people think…”

Erin held up a hand to interrupt her, “I don’t care what ‘people’ think. I care what you and I think. That’s it.”

“Yea? You think we should? I mean I know it would kind of be focused a tad more on me since you have at least been out publicly for a while. I’ll need to kind of tell our story though so this is as much about me as it is you even if I’m the one writing it or whatever I end up doing.”

“I know Ella. I’m so proud of you for wanting to take this next step. I’m all in to anything you want to do; you should know that by now. However, let’s wait until after the wedding so we have enough time to let your family, my family, our coaches, and our friends a bit of a heads up okay? I was going to surprise you a little later, but I guess I’ll just tell you now; John asked me to hang back because I asked if I could take a few more days off after the wedding to go to Houston for a bit with you. So why don’t you think about what you want to do over the next few days, then when we are in Houston we can talk to Randy, and I’ll run it by John when I get back and we can let our families know. How does that sound?”

Ella leaned up for a kiss, “That sounds perfect. I love you.” 

“I love you too.” Erin replied before rolling them over and putting a smirk on her face. “How about we get that ‘packing’ done that Em mentioned?”

Ella’s eyes got a bit darker with Erin’s hands heading in the direction they were so all she could do was nod and lean up to connect her lips to the keeper’s.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~@emasar3: Sometimes there are no words #lovelovelove #mclightwedding~

“That’s a cute one, mind if I post it too?” Erin asked as they sat in the airport waiting for their flight to be called.

“Of course not. I think it’s one of my favorite ones of us. Plus you’re in a dress, not something I get to see very often.” Ella finished with a smirk. 

“Yea, yea, yea. I mean as far as bridesmaids dresses go I think Cara did a pretty good job of picking a color and style that she knew we would all like, even me.”

~@erinmcleod1: My little sister’s love, inspires me to be a better partner #lovelovelove #mclightwedding~

“Is that caption okay since you are going to write that blog next week? I can change it to just ‘inspires me to be better’ if you want.”

Ella leaned over for a kiss, “The caption is perfect babe. After we talk to Randy, John and our families, which I want to do pretty much as soon as possible, so I can get the blog just right.”

Ella had her head resting on Erin’s shoulder and the keeper’s arm was around her. They were both just scrolling through their phones waiting for their flight to be called. The forward realized it should be called any minute so she leaned forward to grab her bag that was on the ground. When she turned back to Erin she noticed that her eyes were a bit glossy, almost like she was about to cry.

“Hey,” Ella gently spoke as her hand came up to rest on the keeper’s cheek, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Erin said as she wiped her eyes, “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Erin,” Ella replied in a firm tone, “this is not nothing,” she said gesturing to the lone tear that slipped down her cheek. “You always tell me that if something is bothering me, or on my mind, or making me upset, that I should talk to you. Well, talk to me babe. You know you can tell me anything. What happened?”

“It’s silly, I shouldn’t have even let it bother me.”

“What is it?”

“Just one of the comments on the picture. I just let it get to me.”

Of course just then their flight was called, so Erin got up and took her and Ella’s bags, effectively shutting down the conversation for the moment.

As the stood in line Ella took the keeper’s hand, “This conversation isn’t over just so you know. Once we get settled on the plane we are talking about this.”

Erin just nodded and kept her eyes down. 

“Hey,” Ella said as she nudged Erin, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” the keeper replied just above a whisper. 

Once they were settled in their seats and the plane was taking off Ella brought it back up. “Will you please talk to me?”

Erin just sighed, “I don’t want it to upset you too.”

“Well I don’t want you to be upset, and I want you to talk to me when you are upset. Let’s start small okay? Was the comment under my picture or yours?”

“Yours. I didn’t want you to have to deal with small-minded people. I wish he would have commented it under mine.”

“Was it someone older or just a young kid?”

Erin shrugged, she had taken some time to look up his profile after he left the comment, but she didn’t really want Ella to know that. “Seemed sort of young still, maybe just about 25 to 30 I would say.”

“Erin?”

“What?”

“You looked him up didn’t you?”

“A little bit yea.”

“And…?”

Erin sighed and brought Ella in closer to cuddle as best they could in the planes’ seats. “He is a young pastor, from somewhere in the Midwest I think.”

“What did the comment say?” Ella finally asked.

“It doesn’t deserve to even be said out loud,” Erin said, trying to shield the forward from the negative comment

“Baby, what did it say? I promise I can handle it, you know why?” Ella waited for Erin to reply with a nod, “because I love you, and no comment for some stranger will ever change that okay?”

“Okay.”

“What did it say?”

Erin sighed, “He wrote, ‘cool photo, but sad story being told through it.’”

Ella just shook her head. “I just don’t understand it ya know? What’s so wrong about love?”

“Nothing is wrong about any kind of love baby. Love is all that matters.”

Ella suddenly pulled away from Erin to reach into her bag and pull out her iPad. She unlocked it and immediately started to type.

“What are you doing?” Erin asked with a bit of a laugh. One minute Ella is cuddled into her side and the next her girlfriend is furiously typing away on her iPad.

“Writing the blog. I’ll have it done by the time we land. I can send it in tonight and it will be up in the morning.” Ella replied nonchalantly.

“Babe! What happened to waiting to tell our coaches and families? Remember any of that conversation we had just like a day ago?” 

“I don’t want to wait any longer and invite people to make those kinds of comments. Do you look at the comments on our pictures often for the negative ones?” Ella asked, sensing that the answered would be yes.

“Sometimes. I just don’t want you getting hurt by what other people say.”

“I appreciate that, really I do, but you had tears in your eyes Erin. That is what hurts me most; seeing you hurt. I don’t care what people are saying. I care that you are reading them, hurting, and keeping it to yourself. I’m going to call out the negative, and explain why love is the only thing that matters. That me, being in love with you, is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Erin had to take a moment, but she knew when Ella had something that lit a fire in her there wasn’t really anything stopping her. “Okay, go for it. I love you too, and you know I feel the same. I know that whenever you get like this, so passionate, there is no slowing you down anyway, nor do I want to slow you down.”

Ella smiled and leaned over for a passionate kiss, “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go tell the world how much I love you.”

Erin smiled and snuggled into Ella’s side. “Love you more, I’ll take a nap and leave you to it.”

It wasn’t long before Erin was asleep, and Ella had to pause a moment just to admire the girl next to her. She had flown through the blog, she was actually almost done, and all she needed to do was add in the couple pictures she wanted to use and edit it a bit, but she needed to find a place to add one more line. She read over what she had so far and smiled when she figured out exactly where to put it. 

~‘You see, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I am deeply in love with Erin Katrina McLeod.’~

The forward smiled as she put in some final touches, re-worded a few things, and added her favorite picture to the end of the article. It was one they took when they went for a hike on a chillier day. She had posted one of them to instagram where she was just standing slightly behind Erin, but in this one she was leaning forward and kissing the keeper’s cheek. 

Just as she was getting ready to get it all together and email it, Erin woke up. 

“Hey babe, I just finished up, do you want to read it before I send it in? It will be up in the morning tomorrow if I get it sent in by 7 tonight.”

Erin yawned and kissed Ella’s cheek. “I trust whatever you wrote, I’m not going to tell you to change anything about it just so you know, but I would love to read it; after you send it off.”

Ella raised her eyebrow in question. 

“Those words that you have written are the words that were in your heart. The longer you hold onto it the more you will want to go back and change it, so send it in now, and I will read it right after you do.”

Ella nodded, finished up the email, and sent it on its way. Then, she gave Erin the iPad to read it over. 

The forward started nervously bouncing her leg as she watched the keeper read what she had written. It was hard to gauge a reaction from Erin at first, but a small gasp and a stray tear had fallen when, Ella guessed, she reacted the sentence about being deeply in love with her. 

As the post went on further Erin was starting to have trouble reading it because of the tears gathering in her eyes. She was so incredibly proud of Ella for writing this and even though they had talked about her past a bit there was one line that made her have to stop reading completely because it filled her heart with so much love. 

~’When I am in her arms, when I hear her voice, my heart feels protected, trusted, and she has allowed me to find my faith again after losing my father.’~

“Ella,” Erin said, then paused trying to find the appropriate words. When she came up with nothing she decided to just lean over and capture Ella’s lips in a passionate kiss that she hoped conveyed everything she was thinking.

“I love you so much Ella. I fall harder and harder for you every single day that you are mine. This,” she said gesturing to the iPad, “is beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of saying. It is absolutely perfect.” 

“You think so? It’s not too much, or too sappy?”

Erin shook her head, “No, it is perfect. I can’t wait for everyone to know that I am yours.”

 

Ella smiled and snuggled into Erin’s side; she was a bit emotionally drained. 

“Go to sleep for a little while baby, we still have about an hour before we land. That probably took a lot out of you. I’ll wake you up when we get close.”

Ella nodded then shifted around until she got comfortable, then she pulled Erin’s arms over so that they were holding her around the waist; the forward was asleep within a minute.

Erin just laughed a little bit before settling back in her seat and thinking about the people she needed to call whenever they landed. She figured John was a must, her family, and then she would text probably Carm and KK and have them spread the word to the rest of the team that the article was coming out. She knew that Ella would want to tell her family, they definitely needed to let Randy know, and she figured that Ella would want to tell some friends too. 

Deep down the keeper was a bit worried about some of the negative backlash they would inevitably get, but then she remember all the emails she had received when she cam out from girls as young as 12 and 13 telling her how much she has helped them, and she knew that it would be all worth it. Ella could be a role model for the young girls that grew up with religious families, or the ones that weren’t stereotypically ‘gay-looking.’ Thinking about the positives that would come out of this erased the worry from her mind. 

About an hour later Erin gently woke up Ella. It took her a moment to come out of her sleep, but she smiled up lazily at the keeper as the light came back on signaling they had to put their seatbelts on.

“Nice nap?”

“Mhmm, you’re cuddly.”

Erin just smiled and kissed her. 

 

Steph had Ella’s spare keys and had driven Ella’s car to the airport that morning before they went to training with Britt following so they could head back to the field. They tried to text Ella the best description of where the car was at, after they had parked it because they would be at training when their plane was scheduled to land, but after about 10minutes of searching and still not finding it Erin just grabbed Ella’s keys and set off the alarm. They both laughed when it ended up being on the opposite side of the parking lot.

“They are awful at directions.” 

“Yup.”

When they got in the car Erin reached over and took Ella’s hand, “They are probably finishing up training for today, do you want to call Randy and give him a heads up?”

“Yea,” the forward replied and pulled out her phone. 

Erin was a bit surprised that Ella wasn’t nervous at all. Randy was a good ol’ southern man and even though he was completely cool with their relationship, she was a bit nervous on what it would be like coming out fully and playing on the same team. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she started listening to the one-sided conversation.

“Hey Coach. You got a minute?”

“I just want to let you know that I wrote a blog and I talked about Erin and I’s relationship. It’s going up tomorrow morning.”

“Yea.”

“Yea we know.”

“Thank you Coach. You’re support has been amazing for us.”

“See you tomorrow at practice.”

Ella looked over and smiled. “He has our backs. He said that the most important thing was that we were good people.”

“Our coach is pretty great huh?”

“Yea. Now we get to let out families know. I think I’ll call mom and Liza, then Liza can just give Ty and Ser a heads up and then I’m sure it will get to the rest of the family, the I’ll text some friends too.”

“When we get home I’ll call John and some of my family too. I’ll probably just text a few girls on the team and then tell them to let everyone else know.”

“Sounds good babe.”

The rest of the ride home was spent singing along to the radio with the windows down.

Almost as soon as they got in the door Erin had her phone out calling John. 

“Hey Coach.”

“Yea I know, that’s not why I’m calling though. I wanted to give you a heads up that Ella has a site that she posts blogs for every now and again and one is going up tomorrow that talks about our relationship. I’m sure it will gain media attention so I wanted to let you know.”

“Thanks John, I’ll make sure to tell her. I’ll see you in a few days.”

Erin hung up the phone and sent off the text to the rest of the team and then went back to Ella who had just hung up her phone.

“You got everyone?” Erin asked.

“Yea I’m good to go. What did John say?”

Erin smiled, “He let us know that he will be paying attention to any major site that talks poorly and makes sure that if they have privileges for the World Cup he gets them pulled. He’s got our backs. He told me to let you know too that he can’t wait to read it.”

“Let’s go to bed and then and we will see what tomorrow brings.”

“Sounds good. I love you.”

“Love you more.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella woke up with a ton of messages on her phone from friends and family. They all were positive and sent their love. Present and former teammates all were supportive. She smiled as she was laying in bed cuddled into Erin. She wanted to look at social media, but she didn’t know if she could do it without Erin awake.

“Go on,” Erin mumbled and she reversed their positions and laid her head on Ella’s chest, “open the social media’s.”

Ella took a breath and then pulled open twitter. There was nothing but love coming in. She had so many comments in support it was overwhelming. After making sure to favorite and retweet some of them she pulled up the official blog to check the comments on that. She was overwhelmed when she started reading the comments of people sharing their stories. 

“How do you feel?” Erin whispered.

“Free.” Ella replied with a wistful smile.


	33. Chapter 33

“I miss you.” Erin said as she looked through the screen, “I wish I was with you.”

“I miss you too, but you have to keep kicking ass so that you can bring us home a World Cup.”

“You got it, one World Cup coming up, just for you.”

Ella smiled, “Thank you. So how was training today?”

“I was good, but tough. John is really starting to push us hard, but we are starting to peak I think. I’m so excited to get the games going for the Cup, but I know I need to focus on our match against England first.”

“You guys are going to do great things this summer babe. I can feel it. I can’t wait to see what happens in a couple short months.”

“Thank you baby, you’re pushing me everyday to get better. I want to make you proud this summer,” the keeper admitted a bit shyly.

“You already make me proud.” Ella said sincerely. 

“I miss you.”

“We already did the missing each other bit,” Ella said with a laugh.

“I know, I just miss coming home from training and having you to cuddle up with.”

“I feel the same, just a little bit longer though. You’re trainings are going to get more intense, John’s going to push you harder, you’re going to focus up on your game, and work so hard that you won’t even have time to think about missing me.”

Erin shook her head, “That is nonsense. You are my reasons for all of this, you never leave my mind.”

Ella smiled brightly at her amazing girlfriend. “Even when I’m trying to comfort you, you turn it around to make me feel so loved and important.”

“Because you are.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Their moment was a bit ruined when Ella heard, what she presumed was Erin’s room door, open and then close again. She watched as Erin’s gaze shifted from her laptop to whoever was now in her room.

“May I help you?” she heard the keeper ask whoever was there. Then a smile broke across her face when she heard Jessie say, “They made me come and get you because they know you wouldn’t hurt me. Em and Carm say that you have to go out with them tonight because, to quote them ‘all you do is brood about how much you miss Ella and you need to have at least a little fun because it is harshing their vibe.’”

“Erin! Go out with your friends!”

Erin rolled her eyes and motioned for Ella to hold on for a moment. Erin was gone from her line of site, the scree just showed the headboard of Erin’s bed, but she could still hear the conversation.

“You see, young one,” she heard Erin say, “the flaw that those idiots didn’t think about is that of course I wouldn’t hurt you, but you are much easier to throw out of a room than they are.”

Ella just laughed as she heard Jessie yelling for Erin to put her down. After a moment Erin came back on screen.

“Sorry about that.”

Ella just gave her a look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you are ignoring your friends and being all broody! Have you sketched anything lately?”

Erin shook her head, wondering why her artwork was relevant right now.

“When I have to leave for training I want you to get out your sketch book and draw me something that we can hang up in Houston. Then I want you to go out with the girls tonight okay? Get out of your head for a little bit.”

Erin nodded, Ella knew her better than herself sometimes, “What do you want me to draw?”

“Something nature related, that seems to be a bit of a theme going on in the house now. Oh and keep it a pencil sketch, those are my favorites of yours.”

“You got it. One nature related pencil sketch coming up.”

“Good,” Ella said as she looked at the time, “I have to get going now, I can see how tired you are though, so take a nap, start the sketch then go out with the girls tonight okay?”

Erin nodded, “Sounds good. I’ll call before I go to bed. I love you.”

“Love you too. Have fun tonight, that’s an order,” Ella said as she tried to keep a serious face, but a smiled ended up taking over.

“Yes, ma’am.” The keeper said as she signed off blowing Ella a kiss.

The forward smiled, shut her laptop, and then got ready for training. When she was walking out the door her phone buzzed with a twitter notification from Erin. ~After a hard work out I can’t help but be grateful for the people that surround me- the love in my life- and the love of my life;) (wywh)~ She smiled, favorited the tweet, and then retweeted it. She was glad in these moments that she decided to write the blog post, there was just something freeing about them being able to tweet or instagram whatever they wanted. Sure they still got some comments every now and again that weren’t so great, but that never hindered them. 

 

“LIZA!” Ella yelled across the airport to her sister. She was excited that her twin got to come down to Houston so they could spend their birthday together. 

Liza ran over to Ella and hugged her, “Hey! How’s it going?”

“Good! I’m so glad you got to come down for a few days.”

“Me too, I’ve missed you a little bit,” she teased in a nonchalant voice.

Ella gave her a playful shove, “I know you missed me more than a little bit. We have that twin ESP thing remember?”

Liza just rolled her eyes, “We all know that you wanted me to come down here for our birthday because Erin’s isn’t here and you’re lonely, like a sad little puppy.”

“Hey!” she cried indignantly, “That is only partly true.” The forward finished shyly.

Liza just put her arm around her sister as they walked out of the airport. She was excited to spend the next few days with her sister, even if she did have to be on her own for a bit while Ella went to training, but it was still nice to know that they had a little bit together before Ella’s schedule got even more hectic than it already was.

When they got to the house Liza was tired from travel, so Ella suggested take out and a movie. They sat on the couch, caught up, and played with Max for a while. 

“So what are your plans for the World Cup?” Liza asked, knowing that Ella would want to try and make her way up for at least one game.

“Well the NWSL is taking that two week break of games, and Randy is giving us some time off as kind of a mini vacation, so I’m hoping that I can make it up to the game on the 11th. I’m not 100% sure if it will work out yet, but I really want to be there to watch her for at least one game. It’s a huge deal ya know? She gets to play on her home soil. I think the atmosphere is just going to be great.”

“Well when you go up there, and I’m sure you’ll find a way to be there for at least 1 game, make sure you tell her we all send her good luck vibes too and that we are rooting for her and the team.”

“I will. It really does mean a lot to her to have your support even though you guys aren’t Canadian.”

Liza just raised an eyebrow before teasing her twin, “You guys? Did you forget that technically you aren’t either? Not until she puts a ring on it anyway.” Then Liza paused and stared down her sister, “Unless there is something huge that you didn’t mention!?”

Ella just laughed at what her sister was implying, “No, no news to report. I mean we’ve talked about it a bit. We both know that we want to marry each other, it’s just waiting for the right time really.”

“You guys are too cute, but I’m happy that you weren’t keeping something from me,” she finished with a yawn.

“Go ahead and head to bed, we’ve got the day off tomorrow, so I figured we could hang out at the beach a bit.”

“See you in the morning sis.”

 

They spent their birthday morning at the beach and Ella made sure to send Erin a few cheeky pictures before she settled on posting the one of her and her sister on the beach. She smiled when she added the caption ‘wywh,’ she knew that Erin would understand her message. They weren’t scheduled to FaceTime until a bit later in the afternoon, and Ella really couldn’t wait. She missed her keeper and even though it was going to be a short call, it would be worth it.

When they got back from the beach Ella had a twitter notification from Erin. She couldn’t help but slightly tear up. ~@erinmcleod18: 2day is 1 of the best days ever and I wanted to be 1 of the 1st to say Happy Birthday to the beautiful, talented & loving @emasar3 (yaamr)~

Just as she clicked to favorite the tweet, her laptop rang out signaling Erin’s FaceTime call.

“Happy Birthday baby!”

“Thank you. I just saw your tweet. I loved it so much, you are too good to me.”

Erin smiled shyly, usually Ella bragged a bit more about their relationship when it came to social media, but Erin felt that certain moments were worth the minor freak outs from fans that they caused. “Well, I wanted everyone to know why today is one of the best days ever.”

“So sweet you are. I love you.”

“Love you more. Tell me about your day so far. How is Liza doing?”

Ella smiled and went on to talk about yesterday since they hadn’t had a chance to talk too much and then went on about her day so far today. She noticed that Erin was looking at her quite lovingly and couldn’t help but take a screen shot of her girlfriend. 

“You do know that makes a noise when you do that right? It’s not like you’re being sneaky about it.”

Ella just shrugged, “I don’t care, you looked cute. I wanted a picture.”

“Dork.”

“Nope, no name calling on my birthday. New rule.” Ella said with a cheeky smile. 

Erin once again just rolled her eyes, “Okay. Whatever you want baby.”

“Thank you! How is camp going? I miss you.”

“I miss you too. It’s going good though. I’m getting even more excited the closer we get.”

“I’m excited too. Oh! I think it works out that I can come up to the came on the 11th!”

“Really?”

Ella nodded and smiled at how happy Erin sounded. “Yea. I can’t wait to be there to support you in the stands. I’ll have to pick out which jersey I want to wear of yours. Oooh I’ll have to ask Megan if she has more of those Maple Leaf temporary tattoos.”

“I think she has plenty of them. At the last game Lily took so many of them. I’m pretty sure she wanted to put them all over.”

“Oh that’s cute, I’m going to put them all over he face before the game now.”

“Good luck getting Megan to agree to that.”

Ella just smirked, “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

They continued to talk for a little while before Erin had to go to training. “I love you baby. Have a good rest of your birthday.”

“Love you too, can’t wait until you’re back.”

Erin blew a kiss at the screen as she signed off. About a minute later her phone chimed with a twitter notification from Ella. ~@emasar3: When Bae wishes you HB from a far~ The keeper couldn’t help but smile at the tweet, and the picture she included. Erin looked like a lovesick fool, and she knew she was going to get a bunch of shit from her teammates, but she didn’t even care anymore. It was worth it, and she knew that all the teasing was out of love.

 

A few days later at training Randy wanted Ella to hang back. They had a scrimmage against the boys in a couple of days, so she figured he would want to talk about what they needed to work on from their previous scrimmage.

“Hey coach. What did you want to talk about?”

Randy gestured for Ella to take a seat in his office, giving Ella the impression this wasn’t going to be a short conversation.

“I have a challenge for you,” he started. “I know that we are solid up top, and our midfield is looking good too. However, our defense is a bit lacking, and we need to improve on that front.”

“Okay.” Ella responded. She wasn’t quite sure where this was going. Did he maybe want her to talk to the defenders, get them motivated a bit?

“We need some guidance on the back. Your leadership could really excel there.”

“You want me to play defense?” Ella asked a bit surprised.

“If you’re up for the challenge yes. I think you could make a great defender. You’ll practice tomorrow on defense, and then in the scrimmage that’s where you’ll play.”

Ella had to take a moment. She had been a forward all her life; she didn’t really know how to be anything else. But if her team needed her to do that they of course she would step up and give it a go. “I am definitely up for giving it my best shot. I’ll play where ever you need me to.”

Randy smiled; he knew that Ella would step up. He could tell that she was nervous though. “Brian will stay after practice tomorrow and work with you a bit. Don’t be too stressed about it right now. We will just try it out and see how it works out okay?”

“Sure thing coach.”

“You’ll have plenty of help from Niki and Steph tomorrow and during the scrimmage. Not to mention I already told B not to take it easy on you, so she will help guide you too. Just try to think about what you hated going up against as a forward. You’ll have an advantage too, because you think like a forward, you can know what they are going to do. I think this will be a good fit.”

“I’ll definitely give it my all and try to listen to everyone’s advice.”

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yup. See you tomorrow coach.”

Later that night Ella sent Erin a text, ~We get to be together even more at practice now. Say hello to your newest defender. ~ 

~Seriously? You are going to be a kick ass defender babe. I can’t wait to have you on my backline. ~

~ You sure it’s not just so you can stare at my ass more ;) ~

~Maybe that too, but seriously, you are going to be great. When did you talk with Randy about it? ~

~ Today. I’m practicing with the defenders tomorrow, and then I’m starting on defense when we play the boys the next day. ~

~Damn, he is throwing you in there fast. No worries though, I know you’ll do great. I have to go to a team meeting now. Will FaceTime tomorrow after your game? ~

~Sounds like a plan baby. I love you. ~

~Love you too. ~

Erin’s confidence in her abilities to convert to a defender really boosted Ella’s self-confidence in playing. Last season she wanted to score goals so that Erin wouldn’t have to worry about it if she couldn’t stop a few. Now it was more of Ella telling herself not to even let the ball get to Erin. She used that as motivation to learn and grow in this new position.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a bit shorter than normal even though I took a few extra days to get it out. So first off apologies for the wait. Secondly I know that I said I would be able to update at least once a week in the summer, but now I cannot stand by what I said. For those of you that don't follow me on tumblr, my cousin Tina has had her cancer come back for a third time now. There is no cure. She has a wonderful Husband and two adorable boys that are 5 &6\. With what she is doing now they think they can give her 2 years at least and if we are lucky she could get 4. In extremely, extremely rare cases of this cancer patients have been sometimes been able to get 6-10yrs, but like I said, it's super rare. If you're a religious person and feel like praying for a stranger then it would be appreciated. 
> 
> Now with that said, I'm not putting this story on hiatus by any means. All of E&Es super cute moments continue to make me smile and I love writing this for you. I will continue to update when I can, which I hope can still be once a week, but I just can't guarantee that. 
> 
> Love you guys,   
> Zig :)

“So how was it?” Erin asked when she answered Ella’s FaceTime Call.

Ella shrugged a bit, “It’s definitely going to be something I have to get used to, but it was fun and I really liked the challenge. Randy, when he told me he wanted to convert me to defense, said that I could use being a former forward to my advantage, and that it will be easier for me to know what my opponent is going to do, and it kind of was. I just thought about what I would do if I was a forward, and what I hated the defender doing to me. I still have a lot to work on, but I really think I can do this.”

“Of course you can do it! Just keep listening to all the advice and instruction you get. You’re going to be a great defender.”

“Thanks.”

“So what else has been going on down there?”

“Not too much, just a lot of soccer and downtime spent missing you. How’s Canada?”

“You’re sweet, I miss you too though. Canada’s good, missing its new adoptee though, can’t wait for you to be back up here.”

“Just a little bit longer.”

“I know babe. Oh! I almost forgot to ask how that podcast you did went.”

Ella smiled, “It was a lot of fun. I was a bit apprehensive to do a more of a fan-run thing because sometimes those can get a bit out of hand or off topic, but they were really great obviously the blog came up, but it was mostly actually soccer talk which was really enjoyable.”

“Good, I’m glad it went well. What did you say about us? Or did you say much?”

“Well I talked about the blog, but it wasn’t really focused on us, more about the reception of it went. We talked a lot about the wages and stuff in the league, it really was a good time.”

“I’m glad. I have to get going though, we have a team meeting, but I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“Love you too. Tell the girls I said hey.”

“I will. We’ll talk tomorrow?”

“Of course we will, but can you swing a bit earlier though?”

Erin thought about what their schedule was like tomorrow before answering, “Yea. We have off time for lunch, I’ll just ask Carm or Em to bring me back some food from wherever they go.” 

“I don’t want you skipping lunch just to talk to me!”

“I’m not skipping,” Erin said with a laugh, “I’m asking Carm or Em to bring me something.”

“You should go out with them though.”

“Nah, I’d rather talk to you. I see them all day everyday.”

Ella rolled her eyes; she figured Erin wasn’t going to budge. “Fine.”

“Did your practice schedule get changed or something so we have to bump it up?”

Ella shook her head, “No we have the day off actually, but we’ve got team bonding and I’ve volunteered the house for it.”

“Sounds fun! I wish I could be there though.”

“You’ll be back soon. Go to your meeting and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too, bye baby.”

 

“You’re going to have to ask McLeod about that one? Really babe?” Erin opened with in their FaceTime call.

“Oops.” Ella sheepishly replied.

“Yea ‘oops.’ Do you even think about the things you say sometimes? Like obviously you know I’m not mad about it, you do know that right?” she asked. She wanted to make sure that Ella really did know she was okay with those sort of comments.

“Of course I do, it’s half of the reason I said it.” Ella replied with a laugh.

“You’re too much sometimes. I can’t wait for what people do with that assumption. Some crazy questions or comments and stuff might be headed our way. But I do love it that you are just so honest about that stuff.”

Ella smiled, “I mean, I had a feeling that asking when Canada was adopting me was going to be brought up, but I think I did catch them off guard with my answer.”

“Yea you seem to be pretty good at that. What time is the team coming over for your bonding day?”

“They should be over in about half an hour.” Ella replied.

Erin easily caught the slight disappointment in the defender’s voice. This was really they only time they could talk face-to-face…sort of. Face to computer screen to face would be a better explanation, but they knew they couldn’t get on later tonight. “So a short call today?”

Ella just nodded sadly.

“Nope, get that pout off your face. A half hour is better than nothing. I get to see your pretty face for a whole half hour and I want to hear about what you have planned for the team bonding.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella smiled when she got Erin’s good luck text a little bit before she had to put her phone away. It was the season opener and Ella was a bit nervous. She played the scrimmages and put in the work in the off-season and pre season so she knew she was ready, but she definitely still had some nerves. Erin’s text calmed her down a bit and she felt ready to go out there.

The first half went well for them in the run of play. Ella was worried about Ali going down hard, but she knew she had to stay focused as best she could for the second half. Ashlyn had subtly let her know that Ali seemed all right. When they were making their way into the locker rooms Ella had caught the keeper’s eye and Ashlyn responded with a nod and thumbs up. 

Ella got worried enough when Erin went down even if it wasn’t serious, so she couldn’t even imagine what Ashlyn felt like when she saw Ali unconscious on the turf and now she had to keep playing when she didn’t really know the extent of her girlfriend’s injury. Ella made a mental note to make sure to catch her after the game.

It wasn’t hard to tell that losing Ali on the pitch affected the Spirits play, they just couldn’t seem to connect anymore and their defensive shape was suffering. The Dash capitalized on the inexperience of the backline though and pulled off the win. 

After the game Ella’s face was throbbing. The adrenaline had worn off from when Steph kicked the ball at her, but since it was the first home game she went around and did autographs and pictures. It was always a low-key day after a game so that the players could recover, so she figured the training staff would already have an appointment lined up for her when she got back into the locker room. 

When she was finished with the fans Ella made her way to the locker room. She was told right when she walked in what time her appointment was to get her nose checked out and then when she had to go in to get the mask made if it was in fact broken for a 5th time. 

She also knew that there would be at least a few messages from Erin so she went to her bag right away to pull out her phone and let the keeper know that she was okay. 

~Nose is probably broken again. Trainers already set up an appointment for me for tomorrow~

Erin’s reply was almost instant; ~We watched the game, you played great, so proud. Probably can’t FaceTime tonight, I’m being forced to go out and be social with the team again, but we have the day off tomorrow. Call me sometime tomorrow?~

~Thank you babe. Tell everyone I said hey and HAVE FUN tonight I’ve got to do cool downs. Love you and we’ll FaceTime tomorrow!~

~Love you too. Tell the girls I said good game.~

Ella smiled and put her phone back in her bag. After almost dropping it in the ice bath two times last week she stopped bringing it back with her. She wished she could continue to talk to her girlfriend, but she was starting to feel her legs getting sore and cramped so she knew she had to hit the ice soon. 

The next day Ella had to sit out of their morning practice then Steph took her to appointment after practice. She made sure to post some pictures on twitter of the process of her getting the mask. She was pretty sure she would be picking little flecks of plaster out of her hair and off her face for a few days, but with this being her fifth time having to do it she was used to it. 

~Cute picture. Best face you’ve ever had in one ;)~ Erin texted her. 

~Ass. Can you FaceTime? ~

A minute later Ella’s laptop was ringing with a call. 

“So what’s the official word with your nose?”

“Broken again. I got my mold done for the mask so that will be fun to wear one of those again I’m sure. I think Randy is going to keep me out next game for at least a half just as a precaution. I don’t think it’s as bad this time though.”

“Well good, I’m glad it’s not so bad. How’s the swelling though? Are you in pain?”

Ella shrugged, “Swelling could definitely be worse. My black eyes aren’t as bad this time around as they have been in the past. I’m only in real pain when I sneeze or something, otherwise it just discomfort really.”

“Well I’m glad you’re not in pain. I still wish I was there to take care of you though.”

“You’ll be back in a couple days babe. You guys are just meeting us in New Jersey the day before the game right?”

Erin nodded, “Yea I think you guys get there around noon or something we should get there around 4 I think.”

“That’s not too bad! Will you guys flight right back to Canada the day after the game or do you get to fly back to Houston with us for a little bit?”

“Unfortunately we have to fly right back to Canada, but I think a few days after the official roster is announced for the World Cup John is giving us some time off so we will be coming down to Houston to play our last game on the 2nd.” 

“Yay!” 

Erin smiled at her girl. The idea of spending consecutive days together excited them both; it had been far too long for their liking since they had gotten to spend more than 2-3 days with each other.

“I have to get going to our weights session, but I’ll call you tomorrow, and I’ll see you in a few days baby.”

“Work hard! I can’t wait to see you. Love you.”

“Love you more babe.” 

 

Ella was sitting in one of the couches in the lobby bouncing her leg up and down. They had a light work out/stretching session just to get their legs back, and they had gotten back to the hotel a few minutes before the Canadians were due to show up. She was still in her practice clothes, and any of her teammates that passed her just laughed at how anxious she looked. 

Finally after about 10 minutes Ella saw the car pull up that had Erin, Lauren, and Chappy in it. Ella stood up and started bouncing on her toes.

She saw Erin walking in, head down, snapback on, and on her phone, presumably texting that she had arrived. The keeper didn’t even get the chance to look up from her phone before Ella was barreling into her. 

Erin laughed at her eager girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her. “I missed you so much baby.”

“I missed you too, so much.” Ella replied while leaning up for a kiss. 

Immediately Alysha and Lauren started making gagging noises.

They pulled apart laughing and Ella turned to glare at the other two Canadians, but her hard look resolved when Erin wrapped her arms around Ella’s waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

“You know,” Lauren said, “something seems a bit off with these rooming situations. There is an even number of players that were already here, and normally if there’s an odd number that odd 3 would get a suite so they have the extra bed, but it appears that the 3 of us didn’t get a suite, and Ella here has no roommate. Seems a bit odd.”

Erin looked over at the forward turned defender. “You behind this?”

“I might have had something to do with it.”

“I get you all to myself for two nights.” Erin said with a suggestive smirk causing the other two Canadians to roll their eyes and once again make gagging noises.

“Okay Chappy and I are out, we’ll see you at dinner.” 

They laughed as they watched them walk away, then the keeper turned to Ella, with dark eyes when the elevator opened. “Care to show me to our room Ms Masar?”

“You are very lucky that you guys got here with a couple hours to spare before dinner. I don’t think I would have been able to get through it without leaving early and dragging up back up here with me.” Ella replied with a wink as she opened the door.


	35. Chapter 35

Ella smiled at her computer screen. She had found a stream so that she could watch the Canadian roster be officially announced. It wasn’t the best of streams, but it was better than nothing. 

“God you’re so in love it’s gross.” Stephanie joked as she sat down by Ella on the couch. 

“Shut up.”

“Really though, I’m glad you got your happy ending.” Steph said with a bit of sadness in her voice. 

“Hey, just because things didn’t go how you planned with Michelle doesn’t mean that you won’t get yours. You told me that you both still have feelings for each other. There’s no reason to think that your ‘world cup break’ or whatever you called it was the end of things for you two.”

“Yea, maybe. Let’s just focus on your girl for now, she’s about to walk out with a small child and I know what that does to you.” The injured defender teased.

Ella just smiled shyly and blushed, “I honestly can’t wait for us to have kids. She is going to be such a good mom.”

“You both are. Are you going to get married first or work on the kid thing first?”

Ella waited for Erin to walk across the screen before shrugging and turning back to Steph. “I’m not really sure. We’ve talked about getting married and having kids, but I think we’re kind of on the same page that the order really isn’t something we’re too concerned with. I think after this season is over we will probably have a nice long talk about it. I’m pretty sure this is going to be my last season so that will open up a lot of possibilities for our future.”

Steph just smiled at her friend. 

“Hey, if you ever want to talk about whatever happened with you and Michelle, more than just the surface stuff that you’re telling everyone else, I’m here, you know that.”

“I know. I just wish we had it easy like you and Erin.”

Ella didn’t mean to, but she laughed at that. Her and Erin by no means had it easy. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. Yea we have it figured out now, 2 years later, but right at the start we were kind of rough. I was struggling with coming to terms about having feelings for another women, she was in and out with national team duties, and we were trying to figure out long distance. There were some hard times Steph. I mean we only had a border separating us, you and Michelle have so much further.”

“We knew it was going to be difficult, really difficult, but I guess we just didn’t think about how it would impact us. We were both so worried about keeping in touch any time that we could, which only ended up being once or twice a week, that both of our play was suffering. With her going to the cup I couldn’t let her be worried about me. I thought it would be best to just put everything on hold so that she could focus. But then with my ACL I knew she was worried about me. I would be a wreck if it were the other way around so that got us talking a bit more at least. I still care about her. I just…I think she is it for me.”

Ella nodded and gave Steph’s hand an encouraging squeeze. “Until you can talk, really talk, again, you just have to support her and do the little things to let her know you still think about her. When she came to train with us last year it was easy to see that you guys were pretty perfect for each other, and I really do think you can get that back.”

Steph let out a sigh and then collapsed into Ella’s side to watch the rest of the Canadians walk out, “Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime.”

After the official roster was announced Ella found a picture and took to instagram.   
@emasar3 ~ Today makes it ‘official’ for @erinmcleod1 to get that much closer to her dream of winning the World Cup on HOME soil. How you push me everyday to be the best version of myself…I could not be more proud to call you my better half and even more my best friend. 

About an hour after the event ended Ella got a text back from her keeper. It was times like these when they were so thankful that apps like WhatsApp were invented because they could text like normal without having to have all the international fees. 

~ Thank you for that post on instagram. You inspire me everyday to be the best I can be. I wouldn’t be here without you. ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella’s phone buzzed with a text and the smile that was already on her face got even bigger. 

~Just landed! ~ the keeper had sent.

~YAY. I’m by the gate! ~

Ella pocketed her phone and bounced on her feet until she saw a familiar hat through the crowd of people. Once she saw the Peau de Loup hat she followed it down to lock eyes with Erin and then broke out into a massive smile. 

Erin smiled right back at her and picked up her pace a bit to get to her girl faster. 

“Missed you.” Ella mumbled into Erin’s neck as she wrapped her arms around the keeper’s waist.

“Missed you too. Let’s get home.” The keeper replied. 

This season living arrangements were a little different. Instead of getting a house like they did last season Ella just got an apartment in the complex that a lot of the team lived in. With Erin being gone for the majority of the season, they both thought that it would get lonely if just Ella lived there. Plus they knew that a wedding and kids would be in the semi-near future and living in the small apartment was a lot cheaper than the house they had rented last season. It was definitely smaller than their house last season, but they both found it cozy and when Erin was gone Ella had neighbors that were girls on the team that she could go hang out with. 

Once home, Erin fell onto the bed and Max jumped on her to welcome her back. Ella laughed at the keeper laying on her back on the bed with their pup happily running around on top of her. Ella put her bag down on the floor and then joined the two in bed. 

They were both just on their backs and let Max run around for a little while. It felt good to be side by side again in the same bed. 

Max wore himself out about 10 minutes after they had gotten home, so he trotted over to his doggie bed that was up on the couch and then promptly fell asleep. 

“Come here pretty girl.” Erin said as she opened her arms for Ella.

She happily snuggled into her keeper and let out a content sigh. “Almost a whole week with you.”

“I know. Seems so long with how often we’ve been apart lately. I’ll even get to be here for your surgery for you. I hated that I couldn’t be here with your nose. I know that you were fine essentially, but I still didn’t like that I wasn’t there to take care of you.”

“I know baby. I wished you were here too, but you gotta be ready to bring that World Cup trophy home.”

Erin smiled and leaned down for a kiss. “Can we just stay here all day?”

“If you want to, then yea, we have the day off. We also have the morning off too, since we don’t have to be at the stadium until 3 for our game.”

“Well in that case,” Erin said as she got up and quickly ran to the door to lock it. “We do not need any of our teammates to come over with what I have planned.”

Ella smirked from her place on the bed still, she figured she knew where this was going to go, but she wanted to tease the keeper just a bit. “Oh yea? And what exactly are your plans for today McLeod?”

Erin walked back over to the bed in almost a predatory way. She then hovered over Ella for a moment just staring before leaning down to whisper in her ear. “My plans are to make you scream so loud our neighbors leave.”

Ella smiled and crashed their lips together. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Baby wake up.”

“Mmm, don’t wanna. You’re too cuddly.”

Erin laughed at her girl, “Come on baby. It’s nice outside for once, let’s go on a walk.”

“Don’t wanna move with you doing that.” Ella said. 

Erin had been absentmindedly running her finger across Ella’s bare back, something that always put the forward to sleep. The keeper smirked and instead of lightly running her fingers along Ella’s back, she moved them to her sides and lightly pinched her sides, something she knew that would make the forward jump. 

“Hey!”

“There. Now you are up, let’s go for a walk with Max before the game later today.”

“Fine, fine, I’m up.”

“Good,” Erin said as she kissed her cheek, “Now get dressed and we can go. Maybe we can stop somewhere for lunch on the way back if we want to. That new sandwich place opened up just down the road.”

“Yea, if it’s not too crowded that sounds like a good idea. I don’t really have a lot of food here anyway. We’ve all kind of been just taking turns cooking and stuff and it’s not my turn for another few days so we might have to go grocery shopping soon too.”

“Babe! What have I told you about making sure you have food around?”

“I know, I know. I promise I’m getting better though.”

“Good. Now let’s go, we need a little family time.”

Ella smiled. It wasn’t until just recently that they had decided that calling themselves a family was a natural thing. Whether it was one of them talking about someone else in the family, it didn’t matter whose side, or just calling the 3 of them, yes they included Max, a family it made Ella smile. 

“We definitely need some family time.”

Once they got to the park they just enjoyed their time together. They took some pictures together, played with Max, and just relaxed on their morning off. Ella knew that Erin is always in her head on game days, so she did her best to keep her mind open and free. 

“Hey, um can I post this?” Erin asked a bit tentatively. 

Ella looked over and smiled. Erin was getting much better about posting things a little more personal, but something with the caption ‘family’ was a big step for her. “It’s perfect. I’m going to post one too.”

Erin smiled because of course Ella would. She was not shy about posting personal things at all. It actually surprised the keeper that she didn’t post the pictures as she was taking them and she waited this long to actually get them up. 

“We are going to kick butt for your last Dash game before the World Cup.” Ella said on the walk back to their place. 

“I sure hope so. You guys have been doing great all season and the growth is incredible compared to last season. And you, my mighty defender now; you are playing so well.”

“Thank you babe. Your encouragement through the whole transition process has been amazing. I wouldn’t be playing so well if it wasn’t for you.”

“Nonsense, you would be a beast still.”

“Well then let’s get back so we can kick some ass tonight.”

The game went well and Erin was once again so proud of how Ella played. She was shifting almost effortlessly into the defending role on the team and just got better and better with every game that she played. 

The next morning Ella had her surgery for her hand and the keeper was glad that she got to be there through the process. It was just a routine surgery to fix up some ligament damage, so it wasn’t too long of a process. 

Erin held Ella’s good hand on the ride back to their place. She only had 1 full day left down in Houston and she was going to spend it taking care of her girl. 

“Come here baby I want a picture.”

“Of course you do.” Erin replied. Anytime they were together Ella insisted on taking a good amount of photos of the two of them. She would catch her staring at them often and her lock screen and home screen usually changed a few times a week so it was a good thing she had so many pictures of them. 

~@emasar3: So thankful for this one being able to be here and the overall support today. All went well w/ surgery and I’ll be back in days… and that’s meant literally folks.~ 

“Hey, this might be a record, almost all of your caption actually will make sense to people other than Em, Carm and I!”

Ella playfully glared at her keeper, “Meanie.”

Erin just held tighter to Ella and gave her a kiss. “You know I love your weird way of expressing yourself. It’s unique.”

“Mhmm”

“Come on babe, let’s go to bed. I’m going to miss cuddling you.”

“I’ll miss it too. It’s a couple weeks, then I’m coming up to you for a few days.”

“I know. I’ll have to make sure to tell Randy again how grateful I am that he is letting you miss a few days of training.”

“He already knows babe. I literally tell him like everyday how much I appreciate it.”

“Good. Now come to bed.”

“One of my favorite sentences.” Ella said with a cheeky smile as she got snuggled into the keeper.

“I love you.”

Ella smiled and leaned up to kiss the keeper. “And there is my most favorite sentence. I love you too.”


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In light of recent events I have taken off the fanfics on here that are also on my tumblr. Don't worry, they are still on my tumblr, but I just don't feel comfortable with them here as well since that trash article came out. I'm also going to be changing my username on here so I'm not exactly sure how that will effect maybe like links or something. I won't be changing the username until the weekend. I'm also going to be taking down anything that isn't this, Love Wins, and Random so if you want those go for it because they are being taken down on Sunday. I am saving all of them on google docs, so if you want one I can email it to you or something, we can figure it out. 
> 
> I enjoy writing, but with articles like that one that came out it makes me feel a bit weird to now write anyone that isn't officially out, or has said something one way or another. So yea sorry for all of the fans of my Krashlyn stuff, but I'm taking a hiatus from them, mainly just going to focus on E&E right now. 
> 
> Much Love,  
> Zig

Ella smiled when she saw the package waiting for her on her doorstep. She had gotten a message from Erin a few days ago about how the Peau de Loup scarves were going live and she was sending on down to her. 

Ella, with package and soccer gear in hand, opened her door and went to open the package. She hadn’t been able to see the finished product, but with Erin on the design team, she knew that the scarf would be amazing, and it was. 

She put it on and posed for a picture like many of the Canadians had.

~@emasar3: This scarf epitomizes unity, heart, and belief. Regardless of what team you will be rooting for this summer, it makes me proud to wear it, and believe in the true strength of a team/family. As @erinmcleod1 said, “to fight hard for what we believe in and to work hard to make our dreams come true” ~

Ella knew that she would be getting some comments about cheering for Canada when she posted it, but that didn’t matter to her. Yea she had friends that played on the US, and she was rooting for them as well, but if Canada and US were to meet in a game for the tournament Ella wouldn’t think twice before putting on her Canada jersey. 

She received a few teasing remarks from her American friends, and a few texts from her Canadian friends congratulating her on embracing her true Canadian pride. 

Later on at practice she got some good ribbing from her teammates in the locker room about how she was hopping boarders. 

After practice the teasing finally stopped a bit, she knew she would get more when the games started, but it was seeming like it was done for the day; until Kealia appeared with her phone.

“You got an, um, interesting text from your girlfriend that I happened to see when I checked the time.”

Ella immediately started to blush, thus drawing the attention of a few other teammates. 

~ Nice scarf. Maybe you can model it for me later tonight ;) ~

“Erm….I….uuhh…”

“I don’t want to know, and I don’t want to hear about it…ever. You and your girlfriend sexting is none of my business.”

Bianca and Steph chose that moment to walk by and do an awkward palm tree in Ella’s direction.

She just blushed even harder and snatched her phone back, “I hate you all.”

Kealia just laughed, “That’s bullshit!”

Ella just rolled her eyes, but smiled at the forward, “You all are ridiculous,” she said as she texted the keeper back.

~Just so you know K went to check the time on my phone and saw that, which means pretty much everyone else did too~

The reply was almost instant. ~Sorry not sorry babe, you repping your adopted nation is hot. You know what you in Canada gear does to me. Remember that one time? With my jersey? ;D ~

~Good thing I’m about to go take my ice bath. You should cool down too.~

~You’re killing me Ella. ~ 

~Sorry love, I’ve got to go ice. Maybe, if you’re good we can explore that scarf thing later tonight when we FaceTime~

~BABE~

~Love you~

Ella put her phone her phone back in her bag and went to get in the ice bath. Since she transitioned to defense she had definitely been feeling sorer than she had as a forward. She had always been in ‘all in’ type of player, so now that she was tackling more and having to sometimes chase a bit her legs were getting a bit more bruising and soreness than she was used to. She willed herself to focus on anything other than the numbing cold in her legs, but that led her back to the conversation she was having with Erin, and that is another thing she needed to not focus on. 

After 5 painfully long minutes she hopped out and got ready to head back home. They were in for a bit of a hectic week. Between Erin’s schedule of media and practices for the World Cup, and things getting intense in Houston with the season before the two week break, both women were tired and it got harder and harder to match up their schedules so that they could talk face-to-face. 

Ella was a bit sad that tonight would be the last time they could really FaceTime for more than a few minutes. The next few days were really hectic, and as of now, they didn’t have a set time to really talk, so Ella made sure that she would be making the most of their time together tonight. 

The forward actually made a bit of an effort into her appearance tonight; normally when they talked they were already in bed, or just coming from practice so appearance really wasn’t a priority, but this would be their last chance to FaceTime for a few days so Ella just wanted to look nice.

Ella was on couch with Max when Erin’s request came in. 

“Hey baby.”

“Well hello there beautiful girl. How was practice today?”

“It was good. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable at outside back. I know I still have a lot to work on, but my confidence is really going up.”

“That’s great! I’m so proud of you babe.”

“Thanks. How are things back home?”

Erin just shrugged, “They are good, great even. Things are really coming together and we are all feeling really great. I really miss you though.”

“I know babe. I miss you too, so much. I know this is going to be the last time we can talk face-to-face for a while too. I hate it when our schedules don’t match up well.”

They ended up talking well into the night about anything and everything that was happening. Whether it was the teams, a new song that Ella heard that she liked, Erin having a fun story about Malcolm and Lily, or how much they missed each other, they just let the topics flow. 

Erin had gotten a chance to watch back the few Houston games that had already taken place, so at one point during the conversation she brought up things that Ella did well defensively and also a couple of things that she needed to work on. 

Ella loved that Erin could tell her those sorts of things and help her grow as a player. It was times like now when Ella was really glad she decided to follow Erin to Houston. She was playing her best soccer ever, and she got to do it all beside the love of her life.

“Ummm, you still with me babe?” Erin asked, pulling Ella out of her thoughts.

“Yea sorry, just got distracted by how much I love you,” Ella cheesed.

“Dork, but I love you.” Erin replied with a yawn.

“Baby, get some sleep.”

Erin shook her head, “I don’t want to hang up.”

“I don’t either, but I need you rested and ready to kick ass okay? You can’t do that if you keep staying up to talk to me when you should be resting.”

“If we hang up, then it’s 3 whole days before we can Facetime again.”

“I know, but I don’t want you falling asleep at practice. I can’t be tired either, and it’s starting to become a bit challenging for me to keep my eyes open. I always tell Anaiah and Cambria that whenever they are missing me to look up at the moon because I can see the same moon that they see and I’ll be thinking about them too.”

Erin sighed, “Fine. You’re right. We do both need to be at our best, you’ve got Portland in a few days. I need you ready to kick ass. I know that’s for little kids too, the moon thing, but I love it and I’ll be doing just that whenever I’m missing you. You do the same.”

“You got it babe.”

“I love you.”

“Love you more,” Ella replied. 

Erin blew a kiss and signed off. Sure 3 days wasn’t a lot, and they would still text and stuff, but they wouldn’t be able to Facetime for a little while longer than they were used to. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It had been 2 days and Ella was already missing her keeper so much, so she decided to do what she did best and share it with the world on social media, including a cheesy song and all. 

Minutes later she had gotten a text from her keeper with a bunch of hearts and smiley emojis. ~Cheer up baby. One more day until I get to see your beautiful face live again. Love you so much. You are going to kick Portland’s ass tomorrow, and then after the game you can tell me all about it while I tell you how badass you are on the field~

 

~YAMR. I have to go to practice now, I love you and miss you~

Erin smiled down at the text. Ella was a lot more vocal about the past 3 days being hard, but it was tough for the keeper as well, she just internalized the feelings more. Her Canadian teammates could see right through her though. They had tried their best to get the keeper to go out with them when they had the time, but Erin either insisted she didn’t feel up to going, or if she went, it was clear to see she wasn’t really having too much fun. 

The keeper just had to keep reminding herself that after she watched the game tomorrow she would be able to talk with her girl for a while. 

The next day the keeper made sure to send out a good luck message to her Dash teammates before the game. Bianca had been doing and amazing job in net the last few games, and the rest of the team was finally starting to mesh well together, especially after Steph went down with her ACL tear and the backline had to adjust once more.

The Canadian’s had the night off, so most of them decided to go out, but Erin and a few others wanted to stay back and watch the game. 

Erin’s jaw dropped as she watched Ella dive through the air and head the ball out of play.

“Your girl is nuts.” Rhian said.

Erin just shook her head in disbelief, but had a proud smile on her face. “I have no idea how in the world she did that.”

Houston pulled off the win on the road thanks to a great performance by their back 5 to keep the shut out. Erin knew that it would be about an hour or so before Ella would be able to get on and FaceTime, but she sent off a text to her anyway. ~You were an absolute BEAST tonight. So, so proud. Talk to you soon~ 

The girls had all gathered in Erin’s room, so when about 45 minutes had gone by after the game, she knew Ella would be calling soon, so she kicked everyone else out of the room.

She was just scrolling through her phone when he laptop signaled the call and she answered with a smile. “Holy crap babe! You kicked ass tonight!”

Ella just laughed, “Thanks. It was a good team performance.”

“Yea, but you were definitely the MVP of the night. That diving header!? Babe that was amazing. But also scared the crap out of me for a minute. That could have ended with you in another facemask.”

“Yea but it didn’t,” Ella replied with a smile.

“Thank goodness. I don’t know if I could be gone if you go through another injury. I hated not being there.”

“I know you did. I’ll see you soon though! Actually in person in a couple of days.”

“I know, I can’t wait.”

They talked well into the night, even though Ella had to be up early for their flight back to Houston and Erin had an early morning weights session, but it didn’t matter to them if they were a bit tired the next day. 3 days was a long time for them and they wanted to make up for it. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Ella landed and made her way to Fortius giddily bouncing her leg the entire way there. Most everyone at the training facilities knew who she was by now and they didn’t hesitate to hand over a key to the keepers room and inform her that the team should be back from training in about 15 minutes.

Ella made herself comfortable in Erin’s room and waited for the keeper to return. She may have told a little fib to her girl and made her think that she would be coming a little later in the day, but she wanted to surprise Erin. 

She was just lounging on the bed when she heard the keeper return, so she sat up and waited for Erin to see her. 

Erin dropped her bag and felt eyes on her back so she turned around. Her face lit up and she went over to embrace Ella.

“You lil shit, lying to me saying you’ll be here later” the keeper mumbled in between kisses.

“Sorry, I wanted to surprise you.”

Erin cuddled into the forward and closed her eyes. “Good to be home.”

“Mhmm.” Ella couldn’t help it; she took a picture of them.

“That’s cute. Send it to me?”

Ella clicked a few times and then Erin’s phone notified her it was sent. The keeper didn’t take much time before posting it to instagram with the caption ‘Home.’

“Aww that’s cute. I love it, and I love you.”

“I love you too baby. So happy we get these few days together before you have to go back.”

“Me too. I know this is going to be a rough couple of months, especially with the tournament starting soon, but I can’t wait to cheer you on as you kick ass.”

“And you better be kicking ass so we can get that NWSL championship as well.”

“Two trophies coming right up for my beautiful girl.” Erin cheesed. 

“Want to watch a movie? Practice today seems like it’s kind of kicked your butt.”

“Sounds perfect.”

They spent the rest of the night in watching movies, taking a few pictures, and just relaxing in the short amount together that they had. Ella would be flying back to Houston in just 2 days so they wanted to make the most of their time together. Erin still had practice tomorrow and a team meeting that night so they weren’t going to get a full day together, might as well make the most of their time tonight.

As Erin was thinking about all of that and she didn’t notice that Ella had fallen asleep. Technically the forward had her own room, and wasn’t supposes to stay in Erin, but she figured she would let it slid this time. She got changed and cuddled back into her girl and fell asleep shortly after with a smile on her face.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning flashback inspired by the "Ella Unplugged" piece from Purpose 2 Play. If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend it. More little tidbits will be coming from that as well too.

 

FLASHBACK

 

_Ella paced around her room in Chicago. She had a date tomorrow with Erin Mcleod; a woman. Carm was on a plane to Boston so she couldn’t call her, and honestly she didn’t really know how helpful that would be anyway. When she was 16 she met her ex, a son of a pastor, and he showed her how wonderful being a Christian was. He helped lead her in her journey with God. But that also meant she knew the Bible, and knew what it said about the feelings she was having._

_At this point there was no denying her attraction to the keeper. No one had ever made her feel this way, granted she really only had one relationship to compare it to, but that was a 10 year relationship so she had thought it would be her end game. Soccer had put a strain on her and her ex, so they both decided that they would still be supportive of each other, and try to remain friends, but they would no longer be in a relationship. The feelings she had for him seemed a bit small now in comparison to what she felt for Erin._

_She was having a conflict between head and heart._

_In college Emily had gone with her a few times to church, or other Christian organized things, and she would always listen to Ella talk about her faith so she figured her college friend might be able to help._

_~Can you FaceTime? ~  the forward sent off. Then, a few minutes later her phone was ringing._

_“What’s up Ella?”_

_“I have this date tomorrow, and I’m really really nervous, like so nervous I kind of want to cancel, but it’s nerves because I feel so strongly for this person, but I’m conflicted.”_

_“What do you mean you’re conflicted? Does this dude have like some super sketchy job or did you meet him online and are worried about getting catfished? Or does he….”_

_Ella didn’t want to listen to her ramble, so she cut her off, “He is a she.”_

_“Oh. Wow.”_

_“Yea.”_

_“So the conflict is because of religion and stuff?”_

_“Yea. I mean I know what the bible says, what I’ve been taught, but what I feel is something I’ve never felt before. I know this is something special.”_

_“What was that one verse you always talked about when you felt down in college? Something about God loving the world right?”_

_“Yea.”_

_“If he loves his creations, he loves you. Simple as that. Love should be the most important thing. How could He get mad at you for falling in love, if you end up really falling in love with her, and being faithful to this girl? Seems a bit contradictory to me ya know? I know I’m not super into the bible and god and stuff, but I feel like love is the most important thing here.”_

_Ella really appreciated Emily’s words. She didn’t know if she was in love with Erin, but with the way things were, and how the keeper made her felt she was pretty sure that was the direction she was heading for._

_“So tell me about this girl. Where did you meet her?”_

_Ella just blushed and looked down._

_“Oh my god have you not actually met yet? Like is this some tinder match up or something?”_

_Ella laughed, “Em I don’t have a tinder!”_

_“Then what was with the blushing thing?” Emily teased._

_“It’s Erin. I have a date with Erin tomorrow.” Ella said with a small smile taking over._

_“OH MY GOD ELLA! THIS IS GREAT! You two are going to be so cute! How did this all come about? When did she finally ask you out? How did she ask you out? Why am I just now learning about this?”_

_Ella laughed at her friend, “One at a time Em! ... Wait, what do you mean ‘finally’?”_

_“Ummm…”_

_“Em!”_

_“Yea, ‘finally’ because since that episode where she was on your little show I could tell that she was into you so I called her and grilled her about it.”_

_Ella just rolled her eyes because of course even Emily had seen what was happening before she had._

_“So,” Emily started, “you’re calling me because with the God stuff and your faith and whatnot you feel like you shouldn’t do this, but you can’t deny the feelings and you really want to go on a date with that doof right? You’re all conflicted and stuff.”_

_“Yea pretty much.”_

_“You want to go on that date.”_

_“Well yea, but I don’t know…”_

_Emily cut her off, “No, you do know, that’s why you called me. You knew subconsciously that I would talk you into this, that I would tell you what you were feeling for Erin was okay. It didn’t matter what some old book said where people talked to snakes and said you can’t mix fabrics.”_

_“I guess I sort of did.” Ella said as Emily’s words sunk in. She could have easily called one of her Christian friends, or even her ex since they were still a bit close, but she knew they would probably try and talk her out of it. She wanted to go on this date, and she wanted to explore all these feelings she had for the goofy keeper that came into her life. “Thanks Em.”_

_“No problem. Now where is she taking you?”_

_Ella shrugged, “I don’t know, she won’t tell me. After Carm walked in on us kissing the night before...”_

_“YOU’VE KISSED HER ALREADY! OH MY GOD!”_

_Ella blushed. “Oh…. yea.”_

_“Oh yea! Get it El!”_

_“I’m going to go to bed now Em.”_

_“I want to hear about your date! Love you!”_

_“Yea, yea. Love you back Em.”_

_Ella felt much better after her conversation with her college friend, even if it did bring a lot of teasing. She still had to work on finding that balance between her head and her heart, but she was confident that she would find it. She knew that God had a plan for her and this felt right, so he knew that she would regret it if she let these feelings pass her by._

 

 

 

Ella smiled down at the napping keeper as she replayed the memory in her head. She tried to take a moment to think about the ‘what if’ situation if she hadn’t pursued the relationship with the keeper, but couldn’t even think of what that might be like. No matter what she thought of, everything always came back to the keeper.

 

Ella was sitting against the headboard just watching back some of their games so that she could see what she was doing wrong and what she was doing correctly. The keeper was facedown on the bed next to her dead to the world pretty much. At some point her hand reached out for Ella and just sort of rested on her leg. Erin was exhausted after their practice so Ella insisted she take a nap before dinner. Ella always smiled when she noticed that even a sleeping Erin sought her out to make sure she was there.

 

Coincidently it happened to be Erin’s left hand that was resting on her leg, and Ella couldn’t help but think about what a ring would look like there on her finger.  It would have to be a simple band, because Erin didn’t do flashy jewelry.

 

She was pulled out of her thoughts when her phone alarm went off so signal they had to go down to dinner, well technically only Erin had to be there, but John always said that Ella was more than welcome whenever she was up in Canada.

 

“Baby, you gotta get up now. We have to go down for dinner.” Ella said as she tried to coax the keeper out of her sleep.

 

All she got in response was for the keeper to roll over and snuggle into her side.

 

“Come on baby. We can cuddle after dinner. I know you get cranky when you’re hungry so come on.”

 

“Hmm, I don’t get cranky.” Erin mumbled into Ella’s side.

 

Ella just smiled and ran her hand through the keeper’s hair. “Of course you don’t baby. But you do have to get up.”

 

Erin turned her head and smiled. “I need a kiss first.”

 

The forward rolled her eyes, but leaned down to give her keeper a sweet peck on the lips. “There you go, now come on.”

 

“Yes dear.”

  

 

Once down at dinner Ella went over to talk with Emily after she had gotten her plate. Erin was in conversation with KK and Steph, so Ella wasn’t worried that she would notice if she was gone for a minute.

 

“Hey, you think you can make up an excuse after dinner saying you need me for something for like an hour or so?”

 

Emily just raised her eyebrow in question.

 

“I’ll tell you later, just…come up to Erin’s room after dinner and claim you need me for best friend time or something for an hour.”

 

“You are so weird, but I’ll do it.”

 

“Thanks bud. I promise you won’t regret it!” Ella said with a smile as she walked over to the table to sit down with Erin.

 

Dinner was uneventful, just light conversations about anything other than soccer. Emily fulfilled her duties and came to knock on the door about 5 minutes after they got back to the room and dragged Ella out yelling something about the keeper hogging her and that she wanted bestie time so Ella would be back in about an hour.

 

“You are lucky I thought to put my wallet in my pocket first before you dragged me out of there or we would have had to make some awkward excuse to go back and get it.” Ella said as the elevator doors closed and they made their way to the ground floor.

 

“You’re wallet? What do you need that for?” Emily asked as Ella led them out of the elevator and out of the lobby.

 

They turned the corner and Ella found the little shop she was looking for. “Because I am going to buy Erin a ring.”

 

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

 

Ella just laughed as they walked in. It wasn’t a jewelry shop they walked into, but it was a cute little boutique that her and Erin liked to always walk through whenever the forward was in Vancouver. Ella walked over to the small jewelry display they had and left a stunned Emily at the front of the store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have "Love Wins" I wanted to write how a wedding would come about a little differently than in that one, so that's how this idea came around.


	38. Chapter 38

Ella smiled when she saw the one she wanted. It was just a simple silver band, but she knew that it was what the keeper would want. It wasn’t really an engagement ring, so it wouldn’t really be putting a dent in her savings, but it was expensive enough that it was worthy of being used as an engagement ring. Ella wouldn’t have to suspiciously cut back on anything to be able to afford it.

 

“You’re seriously going to propose?”

 

“Yea Em. Kind of why I’m buying a ring. Don’t you think this is a good one?”

 

Emily looked at the simple silver band it smiled. “It’s perfect for her. Oh maybe you can do a gold one at the wedding then you could have the two like fused together or something! That would be cool!”

 

“One step at a time Em. She has to say yes first.”

 

“You’re joking right?!” Emily asked in disbelief, “That love sick puppy isn’t even gonna let you finish asking before she says yes. When are you going to ask? Oooh how are you going to ask?”

 

Ella just shrugged; she hadn’t really thought that part through yet. “I’m not sure. I was just gonna go for it when the time felt right.”

 

Emily just laughed at her friend. With her track record of just doing things how/when she felt like it, her answer didn’t surprise the Canadian at all.  “Okay then. Let’s buy this bad boy then. Ugh my bestie is going to propose! I love this! I’m so happy for you guys!”

 

Ella blushed as she paid for the ring. “Thanks Em. And thanks for coming with me to do this.”

 

“Of course! I can’t wait for your wedding.”

 

They walked the short distance back to the hotel talking about Ella’s dream wedding.  

 

Emily delivered Ella back to her and Erin’s room laughing and the keeper smiled at them. “So, bestie time was a success yea?”

 

Emily just winked and left the room.

 

“Yea, bestie time was a success.” Ella said as she kick off her shoes and got into bed and cuddled Erin, “But cuddle time with you is way better.” She said as she leaned up for a kiss. “Don’t tell Em.”

 

Erin just laughed, “I won’t. Your secret’s safe with me. What did you guys do?”

 

Ella smiled, “We just hung out.”

 

“Oh yea?” the keeper asked quirking her eyebrow up, “You have that look on your face that says you’re hiding something.”

 

“Don’t worry about it babe.”

 

“Mhm. Whatever goof.”

 

“We need to take some pictures.” Ella stated out of the blue. “I need some good ones to post when I’m missing you.”

 

Erin was going to deny the request stating that she was tired, but when Ella gave her reason for wanting them, she couldn’t say no.

 

They took a few silly ones cuddled in bed. Erin always made fun of Ella’s duck face so the forward made sure she got one of the keeper’s face when she made fun of it.

 

“You better delete that one.”

 

Ella just laughed and rolled away from the keeper. “Nope. This is definitely going to be posted at some point.”

 

“Hate you.”

 

Ella smiled and stood up. “No you don’t.”

 

The forward thought briefly about what she was about to do, but when she looked at Erin looking at her smiling, she knew that it didn’t matter that this wasn’t some super romantic set up, or a special date. There were no fancy plans that would be put into motion. It was just Ella and the woman she loved being themselves. What better time to ask. Sure she had literally just gotten a ring, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been thinking about it for months.

 

Erin made a move to stand up too, thinking they were going to be taking more pictures, but Ella put a hand on her shoulder to keep her sitting on the bed.

 

“You know,” Ella started, “I’ve never really done this before.”

 

Erin just quirked an eyebrow up and watched as Ella tried to get something out of her pocket, “Done what?”

 

Ella felt the ring in her pocket, took a deep breath, and knelt down as she pulled out the ring. “Proposed.”

 

Erin’s jaw dropped. She was not expecting Ella to be the one down on one knee. She couldn’t help but break out into a smile as she realized what was happening. “Yes.”

 

Ella just laughed, “You didn’t even let me ask!”

 

“I would have said yes the moment we met.” Erin cheesed as she leaned down to kiss her girl.

 

Ella smiled into the kiss and managed to slip the band on Erin’s finger at the same time.

 

Erin broke the kiss and went over to her bag. “You know, I had this plan,” the keeper started as she rummaged through her bag. “I was going to take you out to a nice dinner, we were going to sit under the stars for a little while, and then I would end the night by asking if I could be yours forever,” she finished as she held out a ring of her own.

 

It was a thin band with just a small diamond on top. Very simple, but very much Ella’s style for an engagement ring. “I was going get down on one knee and tell you all about how you changed my life so many nights ago in Chicago. I was probably going to get choked up, and then wait nervously for an answer.”

 

Ella was speechless. She honestly didn’t think Erin had a ring, let alone had all these plans for a more traditional type of proposal. But then again, they had never really been a traditional type of couple. The forward gave Erin a cheeky smile, “Well, you gonna ask me or not?”

 

Erin turned to face Ella and then it was her turn to get down on one knee. “Ella? Can I be yours forever? Will you marry me?”

 

“Yes!” Ella yelled as she crashed their lips together once more.

 

“How long have you been carrying this around?” Ella asked gesturing to the ring once they broke apart.

 

“A few months. I wanted the timing to be perfect. Turns out the perfect time would have been whenever I asked. How long have you had this one?” she asked gesturing to her own ring.

 

Ella smiled, “About 2 hours. I needed my bestie to help,” she said giving away what her and Emily really did. “I have been wanting to get you one for a month or so now.”

 

Erin smiled. “We’re engaged.”

 

“Yea, we are.” Ella smiled and kissed Erin. “My beautiful fiancé.”

 

“Fiancé. That is the greatest.”

 

Ella backed them up to the bed and laid on top of the keeper. “Just wait until I get to start calling you wifey.”

 

Erin crashed their lips together and flipped them over so that she could hover over the forward. “I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

 

 

The next morning both women woke up with smiles on their faces; they were engaged.

 

“Good morning fiancé.”

 

Erin smiled and snuggled further into the forward, “Mhmm, it’s a very good morning my beautiful fiancé.”

 

They just cuddled for a while smiling as they remembered the events of the last night.

 

“You know,” Erin started, “this means that Canada might actually be your home.”

 

“What can I say; I’ve learned to respect the maple leaf.”

 

Erin just laughed. She, along with a lot of other girls on the Canadian team, like to tease Ella about just officially become a Canadian, now she really would be.

 

Ella got her phone and posted one of the pictures they had taken last night. ~ @emasar3: When you learn to respect the maple leaf ;) ~

 

“You are such a dork.”

 

Ella shrugged, “Yea but guess what?”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m your dork for the rest of our lives,” Ella said with a smiled flashing her ring.

 

The keeper just laughed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 

“Oh! I have to go tell Em!” Ella said as she bounded out of the room.

 

Erin was just left shaking her head as the forward ran out of the room. She decided to text her sister.

 

_Hey Cara, guess who’s engaged!_

_You finally asked! I’m so happy for you two._

Erin just chuckled to herself before replying back; _She actually beat me to it._ The keeper texted back with a picture of the ring on her left hand.

 

_OH MY GOD!!!_

_Yea, she asked last night. I said yes, and then got the ring out that you came with me to get and then proposed to her._

_….so you proposed to each other? That is so what you guys would do._

_Thanks sis._

_Seriously Erin, I’m so happy for you two._

_Thanks. I’m not sure if we are really telling people yet though so keep it quiet._

_You got it sis. Congrats!_

_Thanks. I’ll call you later._

Just as she finished her conversation with Cara, Ella came back into the room with a look on her face.

 

“Yes dear?” Erin asked trying to decipher if the look was good or bad.

 

“Are we telling people?”

 

“Do you want to?”

 

Ella shrugged and leaned into the keeper. “As much as I really, really, want to make a post about this, I kind of want to just keep it for us and close friends and family too.”

 

“Well then, let’s just keep it close for now, and if you want to change your mind later and post about it then you can.”

 

Ella smiled and texted a picture of the ring to her sisters, brother, and mom with a short message about them getting engaged, but wanting to keep it quiet.  Erin did the same, and both received messages back with congratulations and letting them know they would be keeping the engagement quiet.

 

They had a few more moments to themselves before Erin had to leave for training. Ella would be leaving that night to go back to Houston and they knew that after Erin got back from training she would be tired, and then they had lunch and a team meeting.

 

Ella utilized the weight room at Fortius while the team was training. She left her ring on the nightstand in the room, got her headphones, and made her way down to the weight room.

 

She had a good workout, and then came back to the room to shower before Erin and the rest of the team got back.

 

When she got out of the shower Erin was sitting on the bed with a sad look on her face.

 

Ella pulled her shirt over her head and walked over to Erin, picking up the ring from the nightstand in the process and slipping it back on her finger.

 

“What’s wrong babe?” Ella asked as she sat down next to her keeper.

 

Erin just looked back to Ella and down at the ring. She shook her head and started laughing to herself. “I feel so dumb now.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Erin shook her head. “You’re going to think I’m an idiot.”

 

“Never,” Ella replied, “Plus you’re my idiot so it doesn’t matter. Now what happened?”

 

“I…I um, got back and saw the ring on the nightstand…I don’t know why, but I just thought…”

 

Erin didn’t even have to finish, the forward knew exactly where this was going so she cut in. “Oh baby, no. I just went to the weight room and didn’t want to get it scratched up or anything.”

 

Erin nodded. “Yea I’m realizing that now. I told you it was dumb.”

 

“You are not dumb. I’m sorry I scared you like that. I shouldn’t have just left it there.”

 

“Not your fault. My mind just jumped to conclusions. I do want to talk about something with you though before you go.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I know we are keeping things quiet for now, but what about like wearing the rings in public. People are gonna notice if we have rings. I’m fine with whatever you are. If you want to wear them and not really talk about it then fine, if you rather we take them off in public that’s fine too. Whatever you want.”

 

“Um…I think with like super public things maybe keep them off for now. If like we are just walking down the street I think we are fine to wear them.”

 

Erin leaned over for a kiss, “Sounds good to me babe. Let’s go get lunch.”

 

They went down to eat with the rest of the team and were met with applause and congratulations; it appeared the team wanted to wait until they were both together to bombard them with questions and well wishes.


	39. Chapter 39

As the tournament got closer, the time that Ella and Erin got to talk was limited. Canada was doing press related things in most of their free time, and with Dash practices and games it was hard to find times that worked for both of them. That meant that most of their conversations as of late were just over text whenever they had time to reply back to one another.

 

Ella was going through pictures from the morning show that Erin and some of the other girls did that morning while she was at practice when she noticed the light catch on Erin’s finger when she quickly brushed back some hair. The ring was pretty subtle, so it was hard to really notice it unless you were looking, but since Ella knew it was there, it caught her eye immediately.

 

She shot off a quick text to the keeper. _You left your ring on this morning on that show you guys did. Just an FYI. I don’t mind, just so you know, but I think some other people noticed so it might be getting talked about._

Ella wasn’t bothered at all the Erin was wearing the ring in public, she just didn’t know if Erin realized she was still wearing it when they went live, and she didn’t want the keeper to be blindsided with questions about it.

 

_Yea I realized once we were live, but I thought it would draw more attention if I tried to slip it in my pocket._

_It’s okay, just a head’s up that there might be some comments about it._

_Thanks babe. Love you! I’ll call tonight._

_Love you more! <3_

Ella was excited to watch the Rise documentary that would be coming out that night, and then her and Erin were going to FaceTime after it. Back when they were first together and she visited from Denver she was there when they were filming some of it and she was excited, but also a little nervous for her little cameo in it, if they decided to keep it in.

 

Things were still kind of new and growing when they filmed it, so at the time, it seemed like a very big deal that Erin introduced her as her girlfriend, on camera. She can remember nervously shifting on the bed, and Erin kind of awkwardly explaining why she was there with just being like ‘my girlfriend is visiting and that’s that.’ They wanted to makes sure to explain why she was visiting, and Ella made sure to shift focus to the entire team, not just Erin.

 

A few of the girls were coming over and they were all going to watch together. Ella was a bit nervous, because she knew that the teasing would come from her teammates, but she also knew that, at that time, it was a pretty big moment for them so she knew her teammates would get that and keep the comments to a minimum.

 

Of course right from the start they bring up the 2012 Olympics and within the first few minutes is a clip of Erin getting emotional about it. She had already left from her visit when they filmed that part, and it made her heard clench; she even got a little bit emotional. Sure they weren’t dating in 2012, they hadn’t even met yet, but anytime Erin seemed in pain, whether it was physical or emotional, Ella wanted to be there for her.

 

Steph noticed the forward’s mood change and gave her leg a comforting squeeze.

 

Ella just leaned into the touch and continued to watch the documentary. She loved how much pride the Canadian team played with, and that pride was even more so since they world cup was on their home soil.

 

When the documentary got to the point of around the time she went up for her visit, Ella tensed up a bit. She didn’t know exactly when it was coming, but she knew it was soon.

 

It showed the girls training in the rain, Erin hates when it rains heavily and they don’t call off practice, so she remember her coming back to the room complaining about it. She was hoping they would show some of the girls being not so happy with the weather after the clip, but was a bit surprised when she heard Erin’s voice.

 

_“This is Ella Masar, my girlfriend.”_

“Awww!!” half the team said.

 

Ella just blushed as she watched the short moment play out on the screen.

 

The forward kept a smile on her face for the rest of the documentary.

 

 

“Well damn. You need to be in charge of designing all your travel outfits” Ella said as she watched Erin model the suit for her over FaceTime.

 

“You think they look alright?”

 

“Alright? They look killer babe! You are so incredibly talented. Wow. My fiancé is a fashion genius.”

 

Erin smiled and blushed, partly from the compliment, and partly because of the fiancé bit. She still was kind of in shock that was actually going to happen. She was going to, hopefully soon, be Ella’s forever.

 

“Babe!”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Were you even listening?”

 

“Nope,” Erin admitted, “I was thinking about how excited I am to marry you. Whenever you say fiancé I get really giddy thinking about how I get to be yours for the rest of our lives. I love it.”

 

“I love you.” Ella replied. “I love that you tell me those things too. It makes me even more excited to marry you.”

 

“Have um…have you thought about it? Like maybe when you want to do it or anything?” Erin asked a bit hesitantly.

 

“Honestly not a whole lot, I mean obviously we would wait until after the tournament, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. Have you?”

 

Erin shook her head, “not really anything specific, just that I think it would be cool to do it outside.”

 

Ella nodded. “I definitely agree with you on that one.”

 

“Good. I have to get going unfortunately. I’ll talk to you soon baby.”

 

“I love you!”

 

“Love you more.”

 

“Not possible.”

 

Erin smiled and rolled her eyes, “Bye beautiful.”

 

 

After a short travel day, during which they received many compliments on their suits from both fans in person and on social media, they arrived at the hotel they would stay at for the group stages. Their first game against China was in 2 days and there was a bit of a nervous energy surrounding the team. Most of them just wanted to get the tournament started so that those first game jitters would be out of the way.

 

On game day Erin got a text from her girl, ‘good luck today (even though you don’t need it). I love you and I’m so proud of you. You tell your defense I said not to let anything get to you okay J’

 

‘Thanks baby! I’ll make sure to let them know your orders. We are heading out on our walk now, so I’ll talk to you after the game. Love you <3’

 

 

Ella showed up practice wearing her Canada jersey because, well that is what she was wearing all day, and yea she knew the teasing would come, but it was well worth it, even when Mel posed the picture from snapchat for the world to see.

 

Ella was nervously watching the game as the score stayed level for the entire match. She knew that the girls needed a win, not to necessarily move out of their group, they could still do that even if they lost or tied, but more-so for confidence purposes.

 

Ella watched as the foul in the box happened, she knew Sinc was one of the best pk takers in the game, but she still held her breath.

 

Thank goodness she was alone in her apartment watching because when the ball hit the back of the net Ella jumped up from the couch and did a little fist bump in victory. She knew that there wasn’t much time left so she went ahead and started sending her message to Erin, even though she knew it would be a little while before she got a reply. ~ I am so so so proud of you and the girls for coming away with 3. I love you! ~

 

About an hour or so later Ella go her reply back from the keeper ~ thank you baby. I’ll call you later tonight. We have to do recovery. Love you. ~

 

~ Love you more stud! ~

 

Erin smiled and got a few teasing remarks from her teammates since she was looking down at her phone with a cheesy smile. Ella had just sent her the picture of Mel’s snapchat.

 

“Aww how cute.” Em teased.

 

“Supportive girlfriend is supportive.” Carm joined

 

Erin smiled “You mean fiancé.”

 

“Oh yea! When are you guys gonna get hitched bud!?”

 

Erin shrugged, “We haven’t really gotten to talk about it much with the tournament starting, but we both want it outside, that’s for sure.”

 

“Ugh this is gonna be the cutest wedding ever isn’t it?”

 

“Well,” Erin said as she got out her headphones to block out the responses she would get after she finished her thought, “it is us, and we are pretty damn cute so probably,” she finished with a cheeky smile and turned up her music.

 

It was going to be a hard road for them, but Erin knew that Ella’s support would drive her to be the best player she could be for her team.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! So earlier in the year I took a month off posting so I could get ahead in the story a bit and y'all wouldn't have to wait on updates, they were posted regularly, and I think I'm going to do that again. With school starting back up, having a bit more work than I thought I would, and figuring out how to be a real adult that has to buy oregano and pay rent and stuff I think that it would be best if I do that again. However I really like the next part of my timeline so I might have another one out next week, but don't count on it. 
> 
> Thanks guys!

‘You are such a dork; I just got a chance to watch that chat you’re doing with Lori, Yael, and Becca. Thanks for repping Canada. I can’t wait until we get to talk tomorrow. Practice was tough, so I’m calling it a night early. Love you.’

Ella smiled and replied back. ‘Sleep well babe and we will talk tomorrow. I love you too ☺’

Erin plugged her phone in to charge and rolled over with a smile on her face. Ella had been so incredibly supportive so far and she was grateful for it, especially on nights like tonight where she just felt tired and worn out form practice. She couldn’t wait for Ella to come up for their game in a few days against New Zealand. Hopefully Ella would be able to come up for more than one game, but at this point she would take anything that she could get. The keeper knew that Ella was committed to the Dash so she wouldn’t want to miss too much, but it meant the world to her to know that her fiancé wanted to be there as much as she could. 

The Canadian’s had a morning training session and then weights in the afternoon, and Ella’s schedule was pretty much the same, except they had morning weights and an afternoon training session, so they planned to get on and FaceTime later that night. 

Ella got home and made dinner for herself before cuddling up on the couch with Max to wait for Erin to call. The keeper opted out of the team outing tonight, even though Ella told her she should go, but it wasn’t a mandated thing so a few other girls were skipping out too. 

Ella had just taken a bite of pasta when her laptop started to ring out.

“Hey babe!”

Erin just laughed, “You could have chewed your food ya know.”

Ella took a moment to do just that, “Sorry, I was excited.”

“Clearly.” 

The forward just rolled her eyes before Erin spoke up again, “I saw the show, and you look good in the blue jersey.”

Ella was a little nervous about Erin bringing up the show, because she thought she ended up sounding like she didn’t really think Canada would be able to make the finals. “Yea?”

“Yea, I actually really appreciated the way you worded it. You’ve never been one to sugar coat things, so I’m glad you didn’t come right out and just say you thought we would win. It is going to take a lot for us to beat some of these powerhouse teams. You probably thought I would take that the wrong way huh?”

Ella sheepishly nodded, “Yea I was a bit worried, but I’ve never hid the way I feel about something before, and I didn’t really want to start now. Do I believe you can win the whole thing? Of course I do. I’ve seen all the work everyone has put in, but I know you aren’t going to just sail through the competition like the US or Japan or Germany will.”

Erin smiled, “One of the things I love most about you is that you keep it real with me.”

“I can’t wait to come up there and watch you play a game in person.”

“Just a few more days babe.” Erin finished with a yawn. 

“Practice getting a bit more intense yea?” The forward asked.

Erin nodded and let out another yawn. “A lot more stressful on our minds than it is on our bodies I think. Well for me anyway. John and the rest of the staff are giving us the day off tomorrow just do anything other than soccer. So what are your plans so that we can talk for more than 30mins?”

Ella’s face lit up at the fact of getting to talk to her fiancé for longer than normal. “Awesome! Well Randy wanted to switch it up a bit too and we are doing practice under the lights tomorrow so we have weights in the morning, then we don’t go back until 8 for training.”

“Perfect I’ll call around lunch then and we can just hang out.”

Ella smiled and nodded. She loved whenever they got the chance to just; they called it, hanging out. They would literally just call each other and stay on the line just so they could see each other for a prolonged period. “Yay! I can’t wait!”

They continued to talk a little while longer, but when Ella noticed her keeper start to yawn a bit more frequently she knew it was time to sign off for the night. “Get some sleep baby and we will talk tomorrow. I love you and miss you.”

“Love and miss you too babe. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

Ella was literally bouncing up and down all through their morning weights session. 

“Geez calm down would you, it is way to early to be that energetic, especially with the work out we were just put through.” Toni said playfully, giving the forward a shove. It was a well-known fact that Toni was probably the most problematic morning person on the team, so it wasn’t really a surprise that she was the one to call her out on her energetic-ness that morning.

“I get to talk to Erin afterwards for more than a half hour, I’m excited, we haven’t gotten to talk for like a good chunk of time in almost two weeks. John gave them the entire day off to decompress from soccer, and we don’t have training again until later so we get to almost spend the entire afternoon together.”

Toni just dramatically let out a groan and flopped on the ground, “You’re so grossly in love and I’m just so single!!”

Ella laughed, “Aww, you’ll find someone soon Toni! Now stop being a big baby and spot me for this lift.”

“UUUUGGGGHHHH”

Ella gave the defender light kick to the stomach and then held out her hand so that she could help her up. 

Aside from little quips here and there from Toni, but also a few from some of the other girls, the weights session passed in a decent amount of time. Ella had about enough time after she got home to take a shower and get lunch going before Erin said she would call, but after her shower she went ahead and put her laptop up on the countertop anyway just incase Erin called earlier, or it took her longer than she planned to make lunch. 

Erin was pacing back and forth around her hotel room, she wanted to make sure Ella had enough time when she got home from training to get settled before she called, but she was having a really hard time waiting around. 

“Oh just call her already!” Kadiesha called from her side of the room. The young defender planned on meeting up with some friends in the area a little later and was going to leave when Erin called her fiancé, but if the keeper was going to continue pacing around like a mad person then she was going to leave early. “I’m heading out early so please stop torturing yourself and call the girl.”

“Was I that…”

“Yes you were, now call her please.”

“Stay out of trouble kid!” Erin called as Kadeisha left the room. The keeper then waited a moment before pulling out her laptop to FaceTime Ella.

Erin was met with a bright smile from Ella and the sounds of her cooking. “Hey beautiful! Sorry not sorry that I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“I was hoping you would call a little early, that’s why I went ahead and set this up,” she said gesturing to the laptop, “before I started making food.”

“Just a few more days and I’ll actually get to hold you again.”

Ella sighed and looked lovingly at the screen, “I love it when you get all soft and sappy.”

“You bring it out in me. You’ve got all the details for the game worked out with Megan right?”

Ella nodded and took a bit of her food. “Yea, she is going to be picking me up from the airport, we are going to grab Lily from dance, and then we will have a little bit of time there at home before we head to the game and watch you kick ass.”

“Lily is going to be so excited you are coming. Megan was telling me yesterday how she has been saying more often that she misses you and wants you to come home.”

“Awww! I miss my little princess too! I want to tell her so bad that I’m coming up for the game, but I want to surprise her more!”

“She is going to be thrilled babe. Now tell me about your day, I’ll tell you about mine, and then we can just hang out.”

“Well for starters, Toni was giving me sooo much crap this morning because I was excited to talk to you even though it was early and….”

Erin smiled as she listened to Ella ramble on about her lifting session. In reality the story should have only taken about 5 minutes or so, but since they had a few hours to talk there was no rush to get to the ‘point’ of any story they were telling. Once Ella finished her lunch she sat down on the couch and continued to talk about how the season was going, how practices were, cute things that Max had done, cute things that Jess’s son had done, and just anything that came to her mind. Erin just listened on as her girl talked away, not even caring that she hadn’t said more than a few words herself. In just s couple of days Ella would be back up in Canada with her and that’s all that mattered. 

They stayed online with each other for nearly four hours before Ella had to go to training. Most of it was spent talking, but every now and again a comfortable silence would settle over them and it made the distance seem like it wasn’t as bad. 

“I love you so much babe. I can’t wait to see you in a couple days.”

Ella smiled and blew a kiss at her keeper, “I love you too, so much.”

 

The next 2 days went by so slowly for both Ella and Erin. It felt as though the excitement about seeing each other somehow made time move slower, but the time had finally come for Ella’s plane to land. 

The forward grabbed her bag and headed out to where Megan was waiting in the car with Malcolm. 

As soon as the little boy saw Ella and ran over to hug her. “ELLA!” 

Ella had just enough time to bend down and pick him up in a hug, “Hey big guy!!! I missed you sooo much!”

“I missed you more!”

“No way, I totally missed you more,” Ella playfully said back.

Malcolm just shook his head, “Nope!”

Ella smiled and gave the boy a big squeeze causing him to giggle. “Ella, will you sit in back by me in the car?”

“Sure thing buddy.”

The forward had to climb over a few toys, but she happily sat down in the backseat next to him for the ride to Lily’s dance studio. She listened intently as he babbled away about whatever came to his mind. 

Once they pulled up to the studio Megan sent Ella in to grab Lily. The forward waited near the back of the room as Lily dutifully got all of her stuff together. Then she watched as the little girl picked up her eyes to scan the crowd of parents for here mom. 

Lily overlooked Ella for a moment, but then the forward smiled as Lily’s head snapped back over to where she was standing. 

“ELLA!!!”

Ella knelt down to pick up Lily, “Lily!!!”

“Mommy didn’t tell me you were coming!”

“I wanted to surprise you Princess! Was that a good surprise?”

Lily wrapped her arms around Ella’s neck and hugged her tight, “Bestest surprise ever!”

The forward gave the girl a kiss on the cheek, “Let’s get moving pretty girl, mommy is waiting in the car and then we are going to go watch Auntie Erin play in her game. Does that sound fun?”

“Yes!! Are you gonna stay with us?”

“I am, but then I have to go back to Texas for a little bit so I can play soccer on our team there.”

“And then you’re gonna come home?”

“It will be a little while longer, but I’ll come visit again.”

Lily let out a content sigh as she snuggled into Ella who was carrying her back to the car. 

Lily fell asleep in the car holding Ella’s hand and when they got back to the house Ella told Megan she would take care of Lily while she got Malcolm ready for the game. 

“Hey Princess, you gotta wake up so we can go watch Auntie Erin play.”

Lily just snuggled further into the forward. 

“If you get up and start getting ready with me we can have a sleepover tonight,”

“Really? You are gonna stay here? Not with Auntie?”

“Yup I’ll stay here.”

Lily sleepily started going through the motions of getting ready.

Once everyone was good to go they took a picture for UNICEF outside. Ella posted it to instagram and smiled.

Now it was time to go watch her fiancé kick some butt.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! With school starting up and everything I'm doing what I did earlier in the year and I will be taking the month of September off from posting. Now, I will still be writing when I have time, so I will be getting ahead so that all you lovely readers can have regular weekly updates for a while. Depending on how far ahead I get I will be updating at least once a week constantly, and if I get really far ahead than I might even go to twice a week. It all just depends on school and the free time that I either have or don't have. Enjoy the last chapter for this month (I made it a bit long for ya) and I'll see you in October! :)

After a little bit of a rain delay the players came back on the field and had a little while to warm back up before play started again.

 

Before the delay happened Canada had come out really strong against a solid New Zealand team, so Ella hoped that they could keep up the intensity. Unfortunately, as is the case with most rain delay situations, both teams came out looking a little flatter than before.

 

It was a rough 90 minutes for both teams, and the game ended in a tie. Erin had to come up big a couple of times and Ella was so proud of her. She knew that the players wouldn’t come over to the friends and family section until after their cool down, so the forward took a moment to just immerse herself in the atmosphere. She had caught glimpses here and there of what it was like, but actually being there was an entirely different story.

 

She was so focused in taking everything in, that she didn’t notice the players had started walking over. It wasn’t until Steph’s niece started screaming for her ‘Auntie Steph and Auntie Marie’ that Ella realized Erin was only a few feet from her.

 

Luckily the barrier was low, so Ella leaned over to kiss the keepers cheek, gave her a hug, and buried her face in Erin’s neck for a brief moment. “I am so proud of you.”

 

“Thank you, it means the world to me that you’re here.”

 

“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else babe.”

 

They pulled back to go over the plans for later that night and there Erin had to get back to the team.

 

“Alright, we have a quick meeting, then the night off before film and practice tomorrow. Megan is dropping you at the hotel yea?”

 

“Yea and I’ll be there until your curfew.”

 

Erin kind of tugged at the Canadian flag Ella had in her hands, “I wish we could spend the night together.”

 

Ella smiled and leaned in, “I know, me too, but I promised a certain princess we could have a slumber party tonight and you need to stay focused.” Ella closed the gap between them and gave Erin a quick kiss.

 

“Get back to the team. I love you and I’ll see you in a little bit.”

 

Erin reluctantly pulled back. “I love you too. See you soon.”

 

Ella made her way back up to Megan, her husband, and the kids.

 

“Ew you kissed Auntie Erin!” Malcolm said as she got back to them.

 

Ella, along with the other adults, laughed. Then she picked him up and started smothering his face with kiss while tickling him. “Kisses aren’t ‘ew’ little man! They show someone that you love them. I love you sooooo much!” she finished as she started smothering him in kisses again. “I won’t stop until you tell me you love me too and give me a kiss!”

 

Malcolm continued to laugh, but he reluctantly gave in. “I love you too Auntie Ella!” he said with a kiss to her cheek.

 

Ella had a megawatt smile on her face; that was the first time Malcolm had called her Auntie. Megan noticed the smile and just shot the forward a wink. She knew her kids loved Ella. Before Ella came up to officially meet everyone Megan just called her Erin’s best friend, then when she knew they were coming up she let her kids know that Erin and Ella were together and explained that to the kids. As per usual with kids it really didn’t faze them at all, they knew their Auntie loved someone, it didn’t matter that it was another girl. They were a little too young to grasp the concept when her sister had been with Melissa, but they got it now.

 

Ella gave Malcolm and Lily kisses as Megan pulled up to the hotel. “I’ll see you munchkins later tonight okay?”

 

They both nodded and said goodbye to Ella for a little while.

 

The forward practically ran into the hotel. She already had a text from the keeper saying they were done and what her room number was.

 

Ella opened the door to the room and saw Erin just laying on her bed scrolling through her phone.  She was clearly waiting for the forward and she put the phone down as soon as she walked in.

 

It took less than a second for Ella to cross the room and snuggle into her keeper. “I love you so much and I’m so proud of you. You played an amazing game and I was so happy I could be up here to watch it live.”

 

“Thank you babe. Your support means so much to me. Even though I am still kind of bummed you aren’t going to be spending the night with me,” the keeper finished with a cheeky smile.

 

Ella smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “Sorry love, I promised a certain princess we would be having a slumber party, plus John would personally kill both of us if he knew that I stayed the night. Can’t have you off the team now can we?”

 

“Yea, you’re probably right. I don’t like that I don’t even get you for a full day though before you have to go back.” Erin reversed their positions while she was talking so that the keeper was now the little spoon, something Ella noticed was happening more recently. She loved that the keeper wanted to cuddle into her; it made her feel like she was protecting Erin.

 

Ella smiled, she had a bit of a surprise for Erin. “Well, I’ll be back up in a week for your round of 16 game, so you won’t have to wait too long.”

 

Erin’s head snapped up to look at the forward, “You’re serious?”

 

“Yea babe, got it all figured out with Randy the day before I left.”

 

“I love you so much.”

 

“My fiancé is playing in a World Cup, I’m going to try and be at every game I can be.”

 

“I wouldn’t care if you couldn’t come to any of the games, as long as I had your support I would be okay, but I do love that you are at my games. You know I play for you, for my family, whether you’re there or not, but having you there makes it so much better.”

 

“And I love being here in person to support you. What do you want to do for the next few hours that I’m here? I’ll be back tomorrow morning, since you guys have the morning off, we can go get breakfast or something or take a walk.”

 

Erin smiled and cuddled into Ella, “That sounds good for tomorrow, but for tonight I just want to stay here with you if that’s alright.”  


“Of course it’s alright, let’s put on a movie and you can tell me all about how surprised Lily was when you go here.”

 

“Well,” Ella started with a massive smile, “I went to pick her up from dance and at first she overlooked me, she was probably looking for Megan, but then her head snapped back over to me and she just screamed. She was so excited. I think her dance instructor was a bit taken aback at first.”

 

“That’s so cute, she really does love you a lot you know. She always talks about how much fun you are.”

 

“It was so cute babe, although Malcolm may have taken the cute award today.”

 

  
“Oh yea?”

 

Ella nodded and cuddled into the keeper, “Yea, she was saying it was ‘ew’ that we kissed, so I told him that when you kiss someone is means you love them very much, so I started giving him kisses and tickling him. I told him that I wouldn’t stop until he gave me a kiss and told me he loves me.”

 

Erin just laughed, “I’m sure he loved that.”

 

“Well, he did it. He gave me a kiss and said, ‘I love you too Auntie Ella,’” she finished with a massive smile on her face.

 

“Lily was the only one calling you Auntie right? Malcolm hadn’t done it yet?”  


Ella just shook her head with a big smile, “Nope, that was the first time.”

 

“That is so cute! I mean I knew that they loved you, Lily obviously expresses it a bit more, but I’m glad Malcolm finally called you Auntie. He actually asked me a little while back if it would be okay if he did that.”

 

“He did? Aww! He is so cute.”

 

They spent their next few hours cuddled up in bed watching a movie. Ella was definitely temped to ‘fall asleep,’ but she knew that Erin would probably get in trouble if John found out that she had stayed the night, so after a few hours she reluctantly got up and made her way back to Megan’s to have her promised sleep over with Lily.

 

When she got back Lily was already in her pajamas and was waiting patiently for Ella.

 

“You’re back!”

 

“Of course I’m back, I told you I would be. You’re all ready for this princess sleepover aren’t you!?”

 

Lily nodded enthusiastically. “Yup! Can you please put a princess braid in my hair?”

 

“Absolutely! Why don’t you go into your room, I’ll go put on my PJs, and I’ll grab a movie for us.”

 

When she got back to Lily’s room, the little girl was already seated on her bed with a brush waiting for Ella to put in a princess braid. The forward set her laptop down and took a seat behind Lily so she could do her hair. It was something that Lily loved.

 

After braiding the girl’s hair and talking animatedly about which movie they wanted to watch, Lily picked Tangled and was asleep within the first 30 minutes. The little girl was curled into Ella’s side, so the forward took a picture and sent it to Erin.

 

_You might have competition for cuddling. This one has the hang of it pretty well_

Erin laughed at the message when she received it but admired the picture for a solid couple minutes before replying back. _Too precious. Love you both so much._

_Love you more! I’ll see you tomorrow with this little princess. Goodnight baby._

_Goodnight love, I can’t wait to see you and Lil tomorrow. I love you most!_

Ella quietly laughed, trust Erin to try and one up her on who love each other more.

 

The next day went far to quickly for either of their liking. Ella and Erin spent the first part of the day hanging out with Megan and the kids, and then Megan took the kids to let Ella and Erin have some much needed alone time. Kadeisha, Erin’s current roommate, saw they way they were looking at each other when they got back and left the room in a bit of a hurry, she did not want to be around much longer with the way they were looking at each other. After awkwardly laughing as Kadeisha fled from the room, they made up for lost time in a more intimate way. 

 

 

After a bit of an emotional goodbye at the airport Ella found herself back at their apartment in Houston. It was only a little while before she could go back up to Canada, but the North had become her home, and going back to visit made her realize how much she missed it. Canada was beautiful in the summer and she couldn’t wait for a time that they could just relax up there for the summer.

 

Thinking about that made her smile, but then when she got to her car to head to practice her smile quickly disappeared.

 

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath as she picked up the pace towards her car when she saw the glass from the shattered window on the ground. There had been a couple break ins in their garage recently, but none of the dash players seemed to be on the receiving end of things, until now at least.

 

Thankfully she knew she never kept anything very valuable in the car, so she wasn’t really worried about theft. Ella sighed and called Randy to inform he she would be late for practice. He was understanding of the situation, not that Ella didn’t think he would be, and told her to let him know if there was anything he could help with.

 

Ella’s next call was to the police to file a report about the situation. Since it technically wasn’t and ‘emergency situation’ they said they would have someone out there in about 20 minutes. So the forward used that time to call her keeper.

 

“I’m fine, everything’s fine.” Ella blurted out as soon as Erin picked up the phone.

 

“You now, that really doesn’t make is seem like things are fine,” Erin replied.

 

“Well you know how there had been a few break in incidents in the parking garage? We are the latest victims.”

 

“Are you okay?” the keeper asked, concern heavy in her voice.

 

“I’m fine baby. I’m more annoyed than anything, because they didn’t even steal anything! Like if you’re going to smash out the window of a car, you might as well take something, anything, but nope, not a single thing is missing. There is just a whole bunch of glass everywhere.”

 

“Well I’m glad nothing is stolen and that you’re okay. Have you talked to the police yet?”

 

“Yea I called them before I called you, but since it isn’t an emergency situation they said someone wouldn’t be able to get out here for about 20 minutes so I thought I’d call you.”

 

“This is what, the third break in now? You would think that the building would be doing something to amp up the security a bit.”

 

“You would think. Maybe after this time they will.”

 

“I sure hope so. I don’t like that fact that you are there alone though and someone is breaking into cars, because who knows when or if they will move up to breaking into the apartments, and we’re on the first floor so it wouldn’t be too hard and….”

 

“Baby, whoa, slow down. You know that the building has a lot more security than the garage. Don’t get yourself worked up over this. I’m fine, I’m safe in the apartment, our neighbors are on the same team as us so we are usually all home around the same times. If anything would happen I would be safe.”

 

Erin sighed, I know, I’m sorry for getting so worked up. I just worry, you know that.”

 

“I do know. I promise everything is okay. I have to go now because the police are here, I’ll FaceTime you later tonight okay? I love you.”

 

“I love you too. Talk to you tonight.”

 

Once Ella hung up the phone she gave her statement to the police and brought up how after the fist two times security in the garage wasn’t really doing anything different, so the officers told her they would talk to security management in the building.

 

After everything was dealt with and the glass was cleaned up, Ella made her way to practice. She ended up being about a half hour late, but Randy had made the team aware of why she was tardy, so she didn’t get a lot of remarks. Once she was stretched and warmed up she made her way into the drill that the team was doing.

 

Practice was fairly routine, they spent a lot of time devoted to set pieces today, defending them mostly since that was an area that needed some work. Because of all of Ella’s concussion issues in the past they made the change to move her out of the box so that she could defend short corners. While Ella was pleased that she wouldn’t have to worry about concussions or anything, and she knew Erin would be relieved as well, she did like being in the middle of everything, so this was going to be a bit of a change for her.

 

Once showed and back home she got a text reminder from Lori about how they were doing their second Whistle Sports hang out. She really enjoyed doing the hangouts, even if everyone, especially Lori, teased her about rooting for Canada. They talked a lot about really important things that were relevant to not only the tournament, but to the NWSL as well.

 

About halfway through the chat Ella’s laptop started ringing out for her FaceTime with Erin. She played it off quickly and declined the call, getting ready to text Erin and tell her to wait a little bit, but then the ringtone went off again.

 

“Sorry guys, skip me while I figure this out,” she said a bit flustered.

 

She muted herself from the hangout and typed out her message to Erin telling her that she would call her back in about 15 minutes when they got done with the chat.

 

Erin replied saying she forgot what time that was, and that she would be waiting.

 

Ella smiled and then unmuted herself from the chat. Lori gave her a bit of a knowing look, but they dove right back into the conversation.

 

Afterwards Ella called Erin back.

 

“Hey babe!”

 

“Hey, sorry for interrupting your hangout, I forgot what time you said you were doing it. My bade.”

 

“It’s okay, Lori gave me a little bit of shit after we were done recording, but that was expected. I let it slip though that I would be coming up for your game on Sunday, so I’m sure people will be looking for something similar to what was shown on TV after the New Zealand game.”

 

“I know you’re not bothered by the fact that they caught us kissing on camera. You do know that I wasn’t either, right?”

 

Ella shrugged, “Well I guess I do now. I just didn’t want that to take away from how awesome you did. I want people to stay focused on you being the best keeper in the game, not the fact that you kissed your fiancé after the game.”

 

“Baby, it is fine if people talk about it. Do you know how many more emails I have gotten from girls, and even some boys about how us being together has made them more accepting of themselves? It is really something. If we can be together openly and show people that love is love and give them hope that in the future it won’t even be a topic of conversation, then we are doing something right. I don’t care if it gets talked about, because it is helping so many.”

 

Ella was hit with a wave of emotion as Erin was speaking, so she blurted out the first thing she thought of, “I can’t believe I get to marry you.”

 

Erin smiled, “I’m the lucky one here. You are all my reasons.”

 

“And you are mine,” Ella replied with a loving smile. “I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too. I can’t wait for you to be here. I’m so glad you get to come to another game.”

 

“I wouldn’t miss it babe.” Ella watched as the keeper let out a yawn. “You need to get some sleep. A certain defender of yours has told me that you weren’t sleeping well.”

 

“I’m gonna smack Carm. It’s fine though, just waking up a little earlier than I normally do, it’s not that big of a deal.”

 

Ella gave Erin a look, “4am is not ‘a little bit earlier than normal’ I need you to be at your best, that includes resting properly. I can stay on with you until you fall asleep if you want.”

 

Erin nodded, “I think that would help. Thank you baby.”

 

“Anything for you.”

 

Normally the situation was reversed and it was Erin who would stay on until Ella fell asleep and the keeper would sing to her. Ella knew that singing was not her strong suit so she opted for just playing the guitar instead. After a couple of songs Erin was asleep. Ella just hoped that she would stay asleep for most of the night. She couldn’t wait to be back up there for their round of 16 game. Maybe she would break the rules just once and spend the night with her girl.


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! I am back! Thank you all for being so lovely as I took last month off to get in 'school mode.' Even though I'm taking less hours this semester than last, I feel like I have more work! With that being said I didn't get as far ahead as I would have liked. Last time I did this I got ahead about 6 chapters. This time I was only able to get ahead about 3-4 (I'm not sure where I'm splitting them up yet so it is roughly 3 or 4). So unless something gets in the way of updating, at least for this month, you'll have an update every Sunday :)

Ella was bouncing up and down in the stands as the clock got closer and closer to 90minutes. If Canada could hold on for just a few more minutes, they would be onto the quarterfinals. They had come out looking a lot better this game than their previous games, so if they kept it up they would be peaking at just the right time. 

 

The fourth official held up that there would be 2 minutes of stoppage time, just 2 more minutes until Canada would be onto the quarterfinals.

 

Ella had to hold her breath a couple of times when Switzerland got off a pair of last minutes shots, but Erin blocked both of them with seemingly no trouble at all. Erin got a goal kick awarded to her after one of the Swiss players went for a last minute long-range shot, and as soon as Erin kicked the ball the ref blew the final whistle.

 

Ella watched with a smile on her face as her keeper ran around celebrating with her teammates, then she watched Erin trade jerseys with the Swiss keeper. It is always a big sign of respect when anyone trades jerseys, but it always seems like it is a little bit more special when it’s the keepers that swap.

 

Once that was done, Erin picked up her head and started scanning the stands for her fiancé. She knew where their friends and family section was, so that made it a little easier, but when her eyes finally landed on Ella her face lit up. She was riding the high of moving on to the quarters, so add in the fact that Ella was there to watch her do that just even made the atmosphere feel more electric than it already was.

 

Erin planned to walk over and pull herself up a little bit over the massive wall, so she was a bit surprised that Ella decided to lean way down and met her halfway with a kiss that was a lot more intense than the quick one they shared at the New Zealand game was.

 

Ella had one hand one her hat making sure it didn’t fall off, and her other hand was keeping Erin’s head in place as they continued their kiss.

 

They held it for a moment, but then Erin’s arms started to burn from just hanging there, so she reluctantly pulled back and dropped down.

 

“Well that is for sure going to be going around on the Internet. Damn babe.”

 

“I am so proud of you Erin. I don’t care if that’s on the Internet forever or not. I was not about to pass up sharing this moment with you. Sorry to steal a bit of your thunder.” Ella replied with a cheeky smile.

 

“I don’t mind that one bit. I am so happy you are up here for this. I have to get back to the team, you’re coming to the hotel tonight yea?”

 

Ella nodded, “Yea, I’m heading over there as soon as I can get out of here. Hopefully it’s a little easier.”

 

Erin nodded knowing that last time as Ella was leaving quite a few fans had come up to her asking for pictures. She knew that the forward was extremely grateful, but this time Ella could come over right away, she didn’t have to wait until after a meeting or anything. “I hope you get out pretty quick as well. I love you, see you in a bit.”

 

“Love you more!” Ella said as she watched Erin jog back over to the team.

 

Erin got in the huddle with everyone else and just had a bit of a love sick smile on her face as John did his post game talk.

 

“Oh my god, you’re not going to be this grossly in love all night are you?” Carm teasingly asked as they made their way into the locker room.

 

“I probably am, no doubt Ella will be too, so you can either hang for a little while and deal with it, or you can see us tomorrow for breakfast.” Erin said with a smirk.

 

“Ugh I haven’t seen the peasant in so long though! Maybe I’ll be able to stomach you losers in love for just a little while before I feel like puking rainbows and glitter.” Carm said as she and Erin gathered their stuff to get on the bus.

 

“You are so weird.”

 

“Eh, you love me anyway.”

 

Erin just rolled her eyes and followed Carm to the bus.

 

Ella was waiting in the lobby when the team showed up with a giddy smile on her face. It didn’t take long for the forward to run over to the keeper and barrel into her.

 

“Well hello to you too,” Erin said as she regained her footing from Ella almost making her fall over. “I didn’t mention earlier, but I love the look you’ve got going on today, very patriotic.” The keeper then leaned in close, “Also very hot. You know what those arms of yours do to me.”

 

Ella felt her face flush as Erin commented on her arms, and of course that is when Carm came over.

 

“I’m not gonna get anytime with the peasant if you’re already talking dirty to her!” she said in a whining voice.

 

“Carm!” Ella said as she blushed.

 

“Yea Carm, chill, we only do that when where alone!” Erin flinched as soon as she said it because she knew that the smack to her arm Ella delivered was coming.

 

“Okay I so do not need to know about your bedroom activities. You can definitely just keep those to yourself.”

 

“Oh my god” Ella muttered, with her face still red.

 

“Come on tomato, let’s get moving. We got a lot of catching up to do,” the curly headed defender said as she threw her arm around the forward and led her up to the room that she shared with Erin. “You should really be thanking me anyway since I’m being kicked out of my own room for the night so you guys can do it.”

 

Erin just quirked her eyebrow, “Do it? Really Carm?”

 

The defender just shrugged and pointed to Ella, “Her tomato face was fading, had to bring back that lovely shade of red.”

 

“I hate you,” muttered Ella as they got to the room.

 

“Liar” Carm said as she flopped down on her bed.

 

“You’re just jealous.” Erin said as she cuddled into the forward.

 

“You know,” Carm said quirking an eyebrow, “that always confused me.” She said as she pointed at them.

 

“What?” Ella asked

 

“I definitely thought that Erin had that big spoon thing on lockdown, but I see that quite often it’s the other way around.”

 

They both just shrugged. “We just do what we feel like. I know Erin is tired from the game, and especially when she’s tired she wants to be cuddled. It just works.”

 

Erin smiled and leaned up to a kiss.

 

“UGH!” Carm said as she pulled out her phone, “You two are really so grossly cute.”

 

“Yup!” Erin said proudly.

 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Carm burst out laughing.

 

“Care to explain your sudden outburst of manic laughing?” Ella asked.

 

“I can’t handle media morons! Just…” she trailed off as she handed the phone to Ella.

 

The forward laughed out loud before reading the caption on the picture out loud, “Goalkeeper Erin McLeod celebrates with a fan at the end of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 Round of 16 match between Canada and Switzerland,” then she showed Erin the picture that went with it of her leaning over the wall kissing the keeper.

 

Erin reacted the same as Carm by just bursting out laughing.

 

Ella had other ideas though and sent the picture to herself from Carm’s phone and then took to twitter while the two Canadian’s were still laughing.

 

_So incredibly proud of this one and so thankful I seem to be her #1 fan haha #caughtagain #GoCanadaGo #lovelovelove_

 

“You did not just do that!!” Carm said laughing even harder when she saw Ella’s tweet.

 

Ella just shrugged and handed her phone over to Erin so that the keeper could see the tweet.

 

Erin just laughed and kissed her girl. “Good one.”

 

Carm noticed her two friends were getting lost in each other, so she decided to see herself out. She thought they would have lasted a little bit longer before completely forgetting that she was there, but she would see them for breakfast the next morning before Ella had to leave, so she was happy to give the couple the personal time they were sure to be craving.

 

The sounds of the door clicking shut brought them both back to reality.

 

“Did Carm just leave?” Ella asked looking around the room.

 

Erin just smiled before rolling over on top of the forward and slipping her hands under Ella’s tank top, “I think she sensed that we needed some alone time.”

 

Ella couldn’t help but to blush a little bit under Erin’s intense gaze. After almost two years together she would have thought that keeper wouldn’t make her blush so easily, but that definitely was not the case. Ella smiled and kissed Erin.

 

While the keeper was distracted, like she so often was when Ella kissed her, Ella rolled them over and took charge.

 

Erin pulled away and smirked up at the forward, anticipation in her eyes, “Oh it’s going to be one of those nights?”

 

“You played a tough game, you deserve a little reward don’t you think?”

 

Erin smiled at Ella’s dominant side and played into it. “Hell yea,” she said as she took of her own shirt and laid back down on the bed. It was rare for this side of Ella to come out and she was going to take full advantage of it. 

 

 

 

The next morning came and after an eventful brunch with Carm, full of teasing from the defender, it was time for Ella to head to the airport and back to Houston.

 

Carm and Ella said their goodbyes then the defender went to park the car, she knew Erin would want to walk her girl as far as she could before security would separate them.

 

“You keep kicking ass okay?” Ella said with a smile.

 

“I’ll do my best even though my good luck charm won’t be here.”

 

“Of course I will,” she said as she laid her hand over Erin’s heart, “I’ll be right there.”

 

“I love you.” Erin said as she leaned down for a kiss.

 

“Love you more.” Ella replied.

 

Erin leaned down for another kiss, “Love you most!”

 

Ella just rolled her eyes, she knew that Erin would keep coming up with levels so that she could win, “I think I’ll be able to come up for the semi’s.”

 

“If we make it there.” Erin said. She was usually more of a realistic thinker when it came to soccer. Ella knew that it wasn’t a lie, England was going to be a tough opponent and the Canadian’s would have to be on top of their game.

 

“It’s going to be tough, but if anyone can do it you all can. Unfortunately we have game the same day, but I should be able to watch the second half at least. You’re going to have to play hard. I’m going to try to FaceTime you in the morning, but we are definitely talking the night before, just in case we can’t find time in the morning. I love you.”

 

“I love you too. Keep being a beast on that backline. I am so proud of how well you all are doing. I can’t wait to come back. Well I mean I can wait a little bit.” Erin said with a smile.

 

“I better get going. Practice well, play well, and remember how proud I am of you.”

 

Erin leaned over for one more kiss, “You push me to be my best. I’m playing for you. You are all my reasons.”

 

“And you’re mine.”

 

With one last kiss Erin watched the forward until she was lost in the security line. She was telling Ella the truth; the reason she was playing her best was because she was playing for her. She just hoped that they could last until the semifinals so that Ella could come up for another game.


	43. Chapter 43

Ella was bouncing her leg up and down as they sat through their lightning delay. The Dash was playing DC, in DC, and they were stuck in a lightning delay. It should have worked out that the Dash game would be getting over around the time the second half of the Canada game started, but since the delay happened Ella knew she would be lucky to catch any of the game now. Once they did start playing though the forward was focused. She wanted to win for Erin, just as Erin was trying to win for her.

 

Unfortunately Crystal Dunn was doing what she did best and was wreaking havoc on the Dash backline. They only allowed one goal, so they did defend pretty well, but it was still a loss. Ella quickly went through her cool down routine, probably a little to quick to be effective, but she needed to know how Canada was doing.

 

She saw their trainer with the iPad in a plastic bag so it wouldn’t be damaged by the rain and once she caught Ella’s eyes she help up the score on her fingers; England 2, Canada 0.

 

Ella quickly finished up and went over to watch the remainder of the game on the iPad.

 

“The stream isn’t that great, but it’s better than nothing. I’ve been keeping up a bit on twitter during the game. It’s been 2-0 since the first half. England scored back-to-back pretty much. From what it sounded like there was nothing Erin could do about the goals, both were defensive mistakes leaving her out to dry.”

 

Ella nodded in thanks and watched as England held a lot of possession.

 

Ella walked near the Plex, hoping to shield herself from the rain a little bit. The stream she was using was a real struggle and she just wanted Canada to get back in the game. They had about 10minutes left, so it wasn’t impossible, but if England kept possession the way they were, it wasn’t looking good.

 

A hand on Ella’s shoulder startled her out of her thoughts.

 

“Hey,” Tiff Weimer said, “We have it on inside if you want to come watch. I was just headed in there now.”

 

“Yea, thanks.”

 

They walked in with about 7minutes left in the game, and England still had a lot of the possession. 

 

As the clock got closer and closer to 90 minutes Ella could feel her heart clenching. She knew logically that Canada beating England would be tough, but she thought that maybe they could make something happen. As chances for the Canadians kept slipping she knew that it was over for them. Making it to the quarters was definitely something to be proud of, there was no denying that, but she knew that if she was feeling this heartbroken for them, then it was so much more for her friends in red.

 

3 short whistles signaled the end of the Canadian’s dream.

 

Ella felt Tiff give her shoulder and encouraging squeeze, but that broke the forward out of her trance. “I can’t see her cry,” she mumbled out before walking back to the locker room to gather up her stuff and head back to the hotel.

 

The locker room was mostly cleared out by the time she got there, but a few of the girls that we left gave her sympathetic looks as she passed by.

 

The first thing Ella did was slip her ring back on her finger, then she sent Erin a text. She knew that the keeper wouldn’t be checking her phone for a little while, but she wanted Erin to know how proud she was of her.

 

_I love you so much. I could not be more proud of you. Keep your head up, you had an incredible tournament and you should be proud of how well you did. “The greatest test of courage is to face defeat without losing heart.” You can call me later tonight if you want to, if you want to take the night to process that’s okay too. I love you.”_

When she got on the bus, she didn’t even get to her normal seat before Randy pulled her down in the seat next to him. “We have a by week coming up. If you want to go up you can.”

 

Ella was speechless; all she could do was nod at her coach for a moment before words finally came back to her. “Thank you coach. I promise I’ll be working out while I’m up there. I’ll make sure Erin is too.”

 

“I trust you both. Just be back a couple of days before our next game okay?”

 

“You got it coach.”

 

Ella made her way back to her normal seat across the aisle from Bianca and Niki and plopped down. Just as she was getting settled she felt her phone buzz, so she eagerly pulled it out of her pocket in hopes that it was Erin. Her face fell a bit when it was Em instead, and then her heart felt like it was breaking with the messages.

 

_You need to call Erin when you can, I don’t care if she told you not to, or if she is ignoring you or whatever but she needs you. She’s not okay._

_We are on the way back to the hotel now_ Ella replied _I don’t think Niki will mind giving me some space for a bit. You all should be proud of yourselves. You all played great._

_Thanks Ella. Erin is staying in her room, but some of us are going to go drown our feelings, so call her soon._

_I will. Thanks for the heads up._

Ella sighed. This was going to be a long, hard conversation. She knew how much Erin was in her head when they lost with the Dash, she couldn’t even imagine how the keeper was holding it all together right now, well according to Emily, she wasn’t.

 

She saw that Erin had at least read the last message she sent, so she sent off another one. _I still want to hear your voice before I go to bed tonight, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but if it’s all right I’ll call you when we get back to the hotel. I love you._

Once again she saw the notification that the message had been read so she settled anxiously in her seat for the rest of the 30min ride back to the hotel.

 

Once they got back to the room Niki spoke up, “Molly and some of our friends traveled down for the game, I’m gonna crash with them tonight so you have the room to yourself. Tell Erin and the rest of the team that they played well and to keep their heads up.”

 

“Thanks Niki, I will, and I appreciate it. Tell Molly hi for me.”

 

“Will do.”

 

With that Niki left and Ella contemplated how she should go about this conversation with Erin.

 

Ella decided to do what she did best, and just not think about it. She called the keeper and decided she would just go with the flow of things. She decided to just do a phone call because she knew that Erin wouldn’t want her to see her so sad.

 

Ella almost thought that the keeper was going to ignore her call, but on the last ring Erin picked up.

 

“Hey baby,” the forward started.

 

“Hey,” Erin replied in a scratchy voice. It was easy for Ella to tell that she had been crying.

 

“I love you, so much.”

 

She heard Erin let out a shaky sigh, “I thought we could do it,” she said with her voice cracking at the end of the sentence. “I thought we could make it farther.”

 

“I did too baby. You all played so well. You were connecting well, your defense was solid for most of the game, and you had some amazing saves. I am so proud of you Erin. There was nothing you could have done on those goals. Some unlucky things happened and you can’t help it. That’s the beautiful game we love. It gives us so much, but it also breaks our hearts sometimes.”

 

“I wish you were here.”

 

Ella smiled slightly. “I’ll be there tomorrow. My flight leaves at 8am.”

 

“Wh…what?”

 

“I got the okay from Randy earlier. Since we have a by week he said I could come up for a while as long as we promise to still workout. I’ll be there soon baby.”

 

“You are the best. I love you.”

 

“I love you more. Now, do you want to talk about the game or do you want to talk about something else?”

 

“I really just want to listen to you talk about whatever that isn’t soccer.”

 

Ella smiled and launched into a story about Anaiah and Cambria. As she rambled on Erin just smiled into the phone, only partially paying attention, not because she wasn’t interested, but because Ella’s voice was just so soothing and exactly what she needed to start healing her broken heart.

 

After talking for a bit and just getting minimal response, Ella knew that Erin’s wasn’t paying too much attention. She figured that she just needed comfort. When she heard the keeper yawn a few times she knew that she should let her get some rest. “Try to get some sleep baby. I’ll be there soon okay. I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow baby.”


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As we get closer to wedding times, the chapters are pretty much just fluff, but don't worry there will still be little bits of drama here and there to keep it from being boring :)

Ella was forever grateful that Max was small enough to travel as well as he did. She knew that by bringing their boy up there, Erin’s heart might heal a little bit better. Max was a constant source of joy in both their lives, but he had been in Erin’s life longer and the two shared that special bond. Ella smiled fondly as she remembered Erin showing her a picture of when she first adopted Max when he was a puppy. The keeper also looked so young and innocent, just like Max, and it was one of the cutest pictures Ella had seen of her girl. She was hoping that Erin might let her post that one at some point, but Erin usually denied it. 

Once the flight landed, Ella quickly gathered her things and Max and made her way to their apartment. Luckily since the game was in Vancouver, if they lived close, John gave them permission to go home for a couple days to decompress before they had some concluding team things to wrap up. She knew that some of the players that didn’t live around the Vancouver area were staying with some of those who did, but she wasn’t sure if Erin had anyone at their place or not. Emily said that Carm was staying with her, but she didn’t know if Erin had anyone with her there either. She figured that Erin probably didn’t, she wouldn’t want people around her. 

Emily and Carm came to pick her up from the airport. Erin was a bit out of it the night before, so while she knew that Ella’s flight left at 8, she didn’t know what time the forward would be getting in. They didn’t talk about it when they were talking, and she hadn’t heard from Erin all morning. She had texted the keeper when she was heading to board her plane, but hadn’t heard anything else, she just knew that Erin had read the messages. 

The car ride from the airport to their apartment was fairly quiet. When Ella first arrived she told Emily and Carm to keep their heads up and all the stuff that she was sure they were tired of hearing, but they should be proud of themselves, they had played a great tournament. At least they lasted longer than Brazil, she told them with a small smile. She asked how they were doing and they both replied that they were holding up better than Erin was. She never responded to any of their texts or calls either. 

Ella let herself into the dark apartment, even thought it was still light outside, and opened the curtains in the living room. She figured Erin was tucked away in their room, so the light in the living room might give her some energy if Ella could get her to come out. The forward knew not to rush her though; Erin needed time to process the loss. 

When she opened the door her heart broke a little bit at the site, Erin was lying in bed, obviously she had been crying, and looked liked she hadn’t gotten out of bed since yesterday night. 

Max bounded into the room and climbed up to cuddle up to his owner. It was like he could sense something was wrong, or that Erin was sad, because he cuddled right up under her chin and gave her a few kisses before settling in. 

Ella was quick to follow and quickly snuggled up to her keeper. Erin rolled over and buried her head in the crook of Ella’s neck and started to cry for what felt like the hundredth time in the last 18 hours. 

“Shhh baby, it’s okay. I’ve got you. Let it out.” Ella said. She continued to whisper encouragement to Erin for a little while before the keeper calmed down. “I am so, so proud of you baby. You played so well.”

“I’m awful.”

“What!? No baby you are not awful! You are the best keeper in the game! Hope Solo who? I’d like to see her try and pull off some of the incredible saves you had to make.”

Erin just shook her head, “I didn’t even pick you up from the airport.”

Ella let a small smile come across her face, she hadn’t meant she was an awful keeper; she had meant that she was an awful fiancé. “No baby, you are the best. I knew that you wouldn’t be up for it.” Ella lowered her voice to a whisper, “Hate to break it to you, but I know you pretty well, and I knew you would be taking this harder than Em was, that’s why I let her know to come get me. You’re always there for me when I have a hard day, or I’m missing my dad a lot. Now I get to be there for you. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

The keeper wrapped her arms tighter around Ella and buried herself further into the forward, “I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t come get you.”

“I love you more, and it’s okay, I’m here now.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Anything for you. Have you been able to sleep much?”

Erin shook her head.

“How about you try to get some sleep? I’ll be right here the whole time.”

“Okay.” Erin whispered out. 

They readjusted Max a bit so that Erin could cuddle into the forward a bit better and then Ella started rubbing the keepers back so that she would fall asleep faster. 

It only took about 10 minutes, which was a lot shorter than Ella thought it would be, for the keeper’s breathing to even out. The forward was content to lie there with Erin and just run her fingers soothingly along her back and through her hair. 

Ella was running her fingers thought the keeper’s hair when her ring got a bit tangled. Suddenly she knew how to get Erin cheered up a bit.

After she carefully untangled her ring she brought out her phone and texted a few people to get things moving. 

 

Erin woke up after a few hours and smiled over at her fiancé. She was so grateful that Ella flew up after their loss. 

“Hey beautiful.” Ella said when she noticed the keeper looking at her with a sleepy smile. “Do you feel a bit better now that you’ve slept a bit?”

Erin nodded and snuggled into the forward, “Thank you for coming, you’re the best. I love you.”

“I told you babe, no where else I would rather be. Do you feel like maybe getting out, going for a walk in the park with Max? Some fresh air might help a bit.”

Erin nodded, “Yea that sounds nice. I do need to shower first though.”

“Okay, you do that, I’ll make us some food and then we will go. Sound good?”

Erin leaned over for a kiss, “That sounds great.”

When Erin was in the shower, Ella pulled out her phone again to make sure things were going well. She planned to bring up her idea to the keeper when they were on their walk, so she just replied with a smile on her face and then set her phone away to work on making them some food. She hoped that the wheels she was setting in motion wouldn’t be in vain. 

After they ate, Erin hooked Max up to his leash and they made their way to the park a little ways down the street from their place. 

They walk for a bit, talked about some mindless things that weren’t soccer related, and took some pictures. Ella of course was quick to post the picture of the cuddled up and sitting on the grass with the appropriate caption of “Home.” She showed Erin the caption before posting it and was met with a smile and a nod of approval. 

“I really love how open you are on social media. You aren’t afraid of the backlash that comes with saying you love me.”

“Love is more important than anything. I would never shy away from making it known how much you mean to me.”

“I wish I could think like that.” Erin said.

The forward smiled and kissed her keeper. “Just you wait. One of these days you are going to be shouting out how much you love me without any regards to what people might say or think.”

Erin smiled. “I hope so, because you deserve it so much.”

“You may be a bit more subtle with your social proclamations, but I know the weight that they really hold, and that’s all that matters to me baby.”

Erin leaned up for another kiss, “You are amazing Ella. I’m so lucky. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After a little while of comfortable silence and watching Max run around the little park unleashed for a bit Ella spoke up again. 

“Can I talk to you about something?” Ella hesitantly asked.

“Babe,” Erin said turning to look at her, “You know you can talk to me about anything.”

“Well I was thinking, when you were taking a nap earlier, about how much I wanted to marry you, and how much I can’t wait for that day.”

“I can’t wait either babe.”

“Well, what do you think about doing it soon, like on the 5th or 6th?”

“You’re…you’re serious?”

“Yea. I can’t wait to call you wife, so I got to thinking, what’s stopping us from doing it while I’m up here, while a lot of your family is here, and while we can. It’s not legal in the States yet, which is real dumb, but we could get it all together.”

“Will your family be able to make it up though?”

Ella smiled sheepishly, “I already asked them, in hopes you would say yes. Ty and his wife and Grey can make it, but that’s it. I figured when it’s legal in the States we will do another one in Chicago.”

“Are you okay with most of your family not being up here if we do this?”

Ella nodded confidently. “I am 100% positive. We can do a small little outdoor ceremony up here, and then when we can get everyone down to Illinois we will do a big one. Does that sound okay?”

“2 weddings?”

“If you want to yea. Otherwise we can just wait until later.” Ella said, backtracking a bit in case Erin didn’t want to do it just yet.

The keeper leaned over and kissed Ella hard. “I would love the honor of marrying you twice. Let’s get to wedding planning!!”


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's shorter than normal. I've had a hell of a two weeks with school so I honestly haven't been too focused on this. However, my hell two weeks is over and because you all are so lovely and patient with me, these are my timeline notes for Sunday's update:  
> ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS YOU GOT MARRIED YOU LIL SHITS  
> FFS YOU PUT THAT TOGETHER IN 10 DAYS  
> YOU CALLED ERIN A BASTARD AT YOUR WEDDING DUMBASS  
> Haley Carter is a gem on the tweets
> 
> So, enjoy this one and I shall see you Sunday with wedding feels!

The next few days flew by. They had gotten pretty much everything sorted out for the wedding at Deep Cove with a lot of help from Cara and Megan. They found the perfect spot and when they had told Ella and Erin where they thought a good spot would be, Erin immediately knew that it was perfect. It was fairly close to one of their favorite Sunday donut shops.

 

Ella and her father had a long-standing tradition of getting donuts together on Sunday, and she still carried out that tradition with friends or family as well. Back in Chicago Carm and Erin were on board for Sunday donuts from day one, so Erin knew that being that close to one of their favorite shops would be meaningful for her girl. Now she just had to find the perfect way to tell Ella that that would be their spot.

 

After thinking for a little while about how, Erin had the perfect idea. They were a week from their wedding, and the next day was Sunday. She smiled to herself as she thought of what would hopefully be Ella’s reaction.

 

The next morning Erin woke up first and just admired her fiancé for a few moments before leaning over to kiss her awake.  


“Mmm.” Ella let out sleepily as she woke up with a soft smile on her face.

 

“Good morning beautiful.”

 

The forward rolled over and snuggled into the keeper. “G’morning.”

 

“Come on baby, it’s Sunday, we have donuts to eat.”

 

Ella placed a kiss on the keepers neck before mumbling out, “Hmm, just a few more minutes please.”

 

Erin smiled and brought Ella in closer, “Okay babe, just a few though. We want to get there before all the good, fresh donuts are out.”

 

“M’kay. 5 minutes.”

 

“Okay baby.”

 

About 10 minutes later Erin gently woke Ella up once more. “Come on love, time to get up.”

 

“Fine, I’m up. Let’s go get donuts.”

 

Once they were both dressed and ready to go, they drove to their favorite donut shop and enjoyed their breakfast together. Once they were finished Erin held out her hand for the forward, “Come on a quick walk with me?”

 

Ella nodded and intertwined their fingers.

 

Less than five minutes later Erin stopped in a little clearing.

 

“Well,” Ella said, “You weren’t kidding when you said it was a quick walk.”

 

Erin turned with a smirk on her face, “I was thinking,” she said gesturing in between some trees, “We could hang those decorations that Cara bought here. Then over here,” she said pointing at a different area, “Is where everyone will sit. And lastly,” Erin continued looking over at Ella whose eyes were glossed over with unshed tears, “Here is where you will walk down the isle to meet me here,” the keeper said sweeping her arm from one side of the clearing to the other.

 

Ella was speechless, something that didn’t really happen too often, so all she could seem to manage to do was nod her head up and down vigorously.

 

“Yea? You like that idea? Are you sure this is a good spot?”

 

Ella just continued to nod her head as she looked around to all the spots that Erin had pointed at. She was just imagining what it would all look like once all the final touches were put together.

 

After a few more minutes she turned back towards a smiling Erin. “I love you.”

 

“Love you more.”

 

“I don’t think that’s possible babe.”

 

“Oh no?”

 

Ella shook her head with a smile on her face, “Nope. My dad always said that the first lesson of marriage is to learn your wife is always right, so you better be ready to accept that keeper.”

 

“You do know that I’m going to be your wife too? That means that I’m also always right.” Erin said with a laugh.

 

Ella just shook her head, “Nope, only one wife is allowed to be right all the time, and I’m calling dibs.”

 

Erin just smiled and leaned down for a kiss, “What ever you say my love.”

 

Ella let out a content sigh and turned in the keeper’s embrace. Erin rested her head on Ella’s shoulder and they stood facing where their ‘alter’ would be.

 

“Less than a week and I get to be yours forever.” Erin whispered.

 

“I love that.”

 

“Me too babe.”

 

“No, not that we’re getting married…wait no that’s not what I meant either, I’m totally excited for that. I meant the way you word that. Every time you say something like that you always make it sound like you can’t believe that I’m letting you marry me, like it’s this massive privilege that I’m letting you have.”

 

“It is though babe. I just think back to Chicago and how I thought I would never ever in a million years would I even be able to take you on a date, and now we are getting married. It just blows my mind that you picked me.” Erin trailed off at the end of her sentence getting a bit emotional thinking about how lucky she was.

 

“I would pick you over and over, every day, for the rest of my life. And I’ll get to do that in just one short week.”

 

They shared one more kiss before heading back home and relaxing for the day.

 

 

The next week flew by. They were so busy with getting dresses, making sure everyone who was supposed to come to this wedding would be there, making sure the reception details were all squared away, and of course some quality time with baby Grey.

 

They were on their way home from Ella’s final dress fitting and it seemed like everything had come together with no problems at all. They couldn’t believe how smooth everything seemed to be working out.

 

After they got back home, they changed for their workout. Normally on Sundays they just do a light workout, and especially since it was the day before their wedding, but Ella could tell that the exit Canada had from the World Cup was still getting at Erin a bit because the keeper pushed herself harder than she normally would on a Sunday.

 

Ella snuck a picture and tweeted it out with a caption about how even after two years with Erin she still is surprised by some of their workouts, plus it gave her an excuse to just stare at her soon to be wife’s muscles.

 

Erin could feel eyes on her so she spoke up, “I would say ‘take a picture, it lasts longer’ but I’m sure you’ve already done that.”

 

Ella gave Erin a tug to signal to come down from the bar she was doing pull-ups on. “You would be correct,” she said as she gave the keeper a kiss. “I posted it too, saying how even after two years you still kick my ass when we work out.”

 

“Of course you did. I’m just curious to see how long you can keep this wedding to yourself. Just remember, you’re the one who wants to keep it quiet for a bit.”

 

“I know I know. It will be nice to have this just for us for a little while. I can’t guarantee that I’ll last for more than a few days though. I mean I’m pretty sure I’m the luckiest person in the world so it’s going to be hard to not share.”

 

“You think you’re lucky?” Erin asked rhetorically, “I’m definitely the lucky one here. I mean I landed Ella freaking Masar.”

 

Ella smiled shyly and looked up to Erin deciding now was a good time to share what she had been thinking about, “Soon to be Ella McLeod.”

 

Erin’s jaw comically dropped. “You….you….you mean….you want to take my name?”

 

“I would love to be a McLeod.”

 

“I…I don’t know what even to say. Wow. God I love you so much.”

 

“Tomorrow I’m officially a McLeod.”

 

“Wow. Like I can but I can’t ya know? Sometimes I still feel like this is all just some crazy dream and I’ll wake up and we’ll be back in Chicago with Carm doing the show.”

 

“Baby, remember what I said when we saw that guy downtown in Houston last year?”

 

Erin thought back and remembered the scenario Ella was referring to.

 

_“What is that guy yelling about?”_

_Erin let out a sigh; she could tell exactly what the guy was yelling about on the corner, she didn’t need to see his sign condemning their relationship. She dropped the forward’s hand as they got closer to the corner._

_Ella looked up questioningly at the keeper and went to take her hand again, but then paused when she read the sign the man was holding up._

_GOD HATES GAYS was in bright yellow letters._

_After pausing for a moment, Ella reached down and took Erin’s hand again. They would have to cross the street right in front of the guy, and Ella was holding her hand. All the keeper wanted to do was protect Ella from the hurtful words of others. Plus, she never told the forward this, but deep down she was always a bit insecure that one day Ella would realize what her religion taught and leave her._

_“I. Love. You. Nothing any stranger with a sign can say will ever change that okay?”_

“I still mean it,” Ella said bringing the keeper back to reality. “I love you and nothing will ever change that. This isn’t a dream baby. We are getting married tomorrow.”

 

“Back then, when you found my crying later and I told you about my fear of you leaving me, I think that was when I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

 

“And tomorrow we are making that happen.”

 

Erin leaned down for a kiss. “Let’s get back home, we are meeting your brother and my sisters our a last night as not married people, and if we get home soon we might just have some time for me to show you just how much I love you and can’t wait to marry you.”

 

Ella shot a wink at the keeper. “I mean we both need a shower anyway after our work out, might as well conserve some water.”

 

“I like the way you think Ms. Masar.”

 

Ella leaned up for one more kiss and they made their way home to have some fun before they had to get ready to celebrate their last night as not married.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I don't really like people saying they are celebrating their last night being single before weddings because like, you aren't really single, ya know? so that's where the celebrating as not married came from I guess


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay please don't hate me. I know I said the wedding would be this chapter, but I wasn't happy with what I had written and I really really want to make sure that I do that part justice, so I've done the before and after bits, and then on Sunday I will have a real chapter all about the actual wedding ceremony, that is why I ended this chapter the way I did.

Ella woke up with a smile on her face and let out a happy sigh. Today she got to marry her best friend. She snuggled into the keeper as she felt Erin groggily start to wake up. As Erin’s arm’s tightened around the forward Ella fought back a chuckle as she thought about how last night Cara and Megan tried to convince them that they shouldn’t spend the night together.

 

_“But you guys!” Cara said, “It’s tradition!”_

_“Yea I’m pretty sure it’s bad luck or something.” Megan followed up._

_Ella just shot them an incredulous look, “Guys, when have we ever done_ anything _in a traditional way.”_

_“Yea, I guess that’s true. You guys are just doing your thing, you always have.”_

_Erin wrapped her arms around Ella, “Yea we aren’t about to change that now. I mean look how well it has worked out so far!”_

_Ella smiled and leaned up for a kiss._

“Super glad we didn’t listen to your sisters. I like waking up with you too much.”

 

“Mmm. Me too, you’re cuddly.”

 

Ella look at the keeper with a dopey smile on her face, “We’re getting married today.”

 

Erin smiled back at the forward and leaned up for a kiss. “Yea we are. Sometimes I just can’t believe it you know? Like in Chicago there you were, and I just thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen the moment I laid eyes on you. Then after I got to know you I saw that you were just as beautiful on the inside as you were on the outside. And when Carm left and everything changed, I was just so so happy that you took a chance on me, but you know my fears, I’ve told you about the ones I had when we first started out, I thought that you would leave me, but god, we are getting married today. I still get so baffled at the fact that you want to keep me around, and now, you want to basically keep me around forever, like we are making that an official thing today, and I didn’t think this level of happiness existed,” the keeper finished getting a bit emotional.

 

Ella kissed the keeper passionately after she finished her impromptu speech. “I’ve never met someone that makes me feel like you. Granted I don’t really have much to compare it to, but we’ve talked about being in love with other people before so it’s just…like I know I’m not your first love, but the fact that I’m your last is just so much better than any feeling I’ve ever had with my ex.”

 

“We are about to have the sappiest wedding of all time if those weren’t even our vows,” Erin said with a teary eyed smile; happy tears of course.

 

“Not a dry eye in the house baby,” Ella said with a final kiss before rolling out of bed. “Speaking of weddings though, we should probably start getting ready for ours huh?”

 

“I cannot wait.”

 

 

They spent the morning getting breakfast with their family and just relaxing a bit before they had to start really getting ready for the ceremony. Ella was gifted a Clan McLeod shirt from her soon to be official in-laws, so she proudly slipped it on over the t-shirt she was already wearing and smiled for Erin to take a picture of her.

 

Once they got back from breakfast they went their separate ways to get ready. They had already seen the dresses the other was going to be wearing, so that tradition was gone too, but they did decide to actually get ready separately and not see each other until the actual ceremony.

 

Erin was in her designated room getting ready, almost finished, when her dad walked in to take her to Deep Cove.

 

“You look beautiful baby girl. I’m so proud of you.”

 

Erin smiled, “Thanks dad.”

 

“I told myself that I wasn’t going to get emotional, I mean, two of my girls have already done this, I should be a pro at sending you down that isle by now. Ella is so perfect for you, and you are perfect for her. Don’t tell your sisters, but I’ve known from the moment that we met her, actually from the moment you told us about her, that you were going to marry her. Couples like the two of you don’t come around too often, where you just know right from the start.”

 

“You’re going to make me ruin my makeup,” Erin laughed sniffling a bit. It wasn’t often her father got emotional, so hearing him speak so highly of her relationship was making her a bit emotional as well.

 

“Well then I better save some other topics of conversation for after the wedding.”

 

Erin just raised an eyebrow at her father.

 

Doug looked at his watch and motioned for Erin to follow him. “We better get going kiddo. You’ve got your dream girl to marry.”

 

Erin walked over to her father and gave him a hug. “Thank you for everything,” she said sincerely.

 

“Now you’re the one that is going to make me cry. Let’s go.”

 

They drove in a comfortable silence to Deep Cove and Erin just thought about how today was going to be the best day of her life.

 

 

While all that was happening, Ella was getting ready at a place near Deep Cove. Her brother, sister in-law, and baby Grey were with her as she put the finishing touches on her make up, and then carefully pinned the flower in her hair.

 

“How does it look?”

 

Ella’s niece happily cheered and made a clapping hands motion.

 

“Well,” Ty laughed, “I think she said it all. Seriously sis, you look great. You’re going to take her breath away.”

 

Ella just rolled her eyes, “She has already seen me in the dress.”

 

“Yea, but you weren’t walking down the isle towards her were you?” he said with a cocky smirk.

 

“Alright, I guess you’re right.”

 

Megan came over and took Grey. “We are going to go find our seats. You look so beautiful Ella.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Ella gave a big kiss on the cheek to her niece before she started messing with the flower in her hair.

 

Ty walked over with a huff and slapped Ella’s hands away to fix the flower. “Stop it. It’s perfect.”

 

“Thanks Ty, for being here, for walking me down the isle.”

 

“Are you kidding? I really am honored to do this El. Pops would be so incredibly proud of you, you know that right? He would have absolutely loved Erin and he is totally here today. I feel him ya know?”

 

“Yea, I feel him too. I think he would have liked her too.”

 

“Ya did good sis.”

 

“Yea I did,” she replied with a wistful smile.

 

“Alright, enough being sappy, y’all are probably going to be doing plenty of that in your vows. Let’s go get you married!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

At the reception after the wedding everyone was smiling, laughing, and just having a great time.  Everyone that gave a speech absolutely nailed them; there were tears, laughter, and everything in between.

 

Things had started to wind down a bit when Ella found herself walking out to the balcony with her new father-in-law.

 

“I almost told Erin what I wanted to talk to you about before the wedding, but I decided to wait until after I talked to you.”

 

“Um okay.” Ella said a bit hesitantly. She still wasn’t sure what direction this conversation would be heading.

 

“From the moment Erin started talking about you, back when you first met, I knew that she was in love with you. She just lit up and was so much brighter. As a father, it was easy for me to tell that she had found her person.” He paused and took a breath, “I think your father would have said the same, and I kind of wanted to make an offer to you.”

 

“An offer?”

 

“Offer probably isn’t the best word, but it’s what I’ve got. This is something that is totally 100% up to you, but um, if you wanted to, I wouldn’t be opposed if you wanted to forgo the formalness of calling me ‘father-in-law’ and you could just call me ‘dad’ if you wanted, I’d actually be honored if you wanted to. I don’t want to try and take away anything from your father, he obviously raised a remarkable person, so if you aren’t comfortable doing that I completely understand. I uh, just thought that maybe I’d throw that out there.”

 

Ella was absolutely speechless so she did the only thing she could think of doing and pulled Doug in for a hug. “Thank you. That really means the world to me to hear you say that. I really couldn’t have asked for a more loving family to join.”

 

After a few moments of just embracing in silence, Ella pulled back a bit. “Growing up I always called my dad ‘Pop’ or ‘Pops’ so I think that, calling you ‘dad’ is very much something I’d like to do.”

 

They walked back in with smiles on their faces and Doug’s arm around Ella’s shoulder. Erin just raised an eyebrow and Ella gave her a “I’ll tell you later” look, before going over and talking to Rhian.

 

 

The party finally concluded and the newlyweds were just lying in bed.

 

“We’re married.” Erin whispered.

 

“We sure are wifey.”

 

“I love that.”

 

Ella leaned over for a kiss. “Best wifey ever.”

 

Erin smiled. “Hey, what did you and my dad talk about when he stole you away from me?”

 

Ella smiled and snuggled into her wife. “He said that he wanted me to call him ‘dad’ if I wanted to.”

 

Erin looked a bit shocked. That was so not something that she thought her dad would bring up. She was impatiently waiting for Ella to answer how the conversation went. “And..?”

 

Ella nodded “I’m going to call him dad. You’re entire family just embraced me so well. It’s really great to have a father back in my life and I know that my Pop would totally be buddies with your dad if he was still here.”

 

“God I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too wifey.”

 

Erin fell asleep shortly after and Ella fell asleep not long after her wife with a smile on her face replaying the wedding ceremony in her mind.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that I did this justice. Enjoy a chapter of nothing but the cheesiest, sappiest moments I could think of!

Erin was the first one to walk down the isle. There wasn’t music or anything, just the sounds of the nature around them.

 

“Your mother is already crying and we are only 5 steps down the isle,” the keeper’s dad whispered to her.

 

Erin broke out in a smile, “I’m not surprised at all. She did the same with Cara and Megan.”

 

“Just to let you know, I’m going to be watching you when Ella comes around the corner. You’re going to have a great reaction.”

 

“Dad, I’ve already seen her in her dress.”

 

Doug just laughed as the got closer to the front. “You’ve not seen anything yet my girl.”

 

When they reached the ‘alter,’ it was just a little hill so they were raised up a bit, Erin’s dad turned to her and gave her a hug. “I am so proud of you baby. Love you”

 

“Thanks dad. I love you too.”

 

Once Erin was in her spot she immediately gave a quick look to everyone that was there but then shortly after she just looked over all the guests and had her gaze set on the corner that Ella was bound to turn at any moment now. She wanted to remember the first moment she saw her for the rest of her life.

 

 

Ella took a couple deep breaths to calm her nerves. She wasn’t quite sure why she was so nervous, she couldn’t wait to marry Erin, but the nerves were there nonetheless.

 

“Do me a favor?” Ty asked before they rounded the corner.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Look at Erin as soon as you turn the corner, watch her reaction to seeing you. I guarantee it will be the best thing ever.”

 

Ella smiled and hooked arms with her brother. “I already planned on it. I want to remember this moment forever.”

 

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go get you hitched!”

 

Ella laughed as Ty led her around the corner.

 

Erin’s jaw visibly dropped and immediately she got a bit misty-eyed. Ella was the most beautiful person she had ever laid her eyes on. The keeper felt like she was in a dream. She had dreamt so many nights before about what this moment would look like, what it would feel like, and nothing she ever thought of, or had a dream about compared to this moment in the slightest.

 

Ella smiled impossibly bigger when she locked eyes with her keeper. It was like everyone around them had disappeared and it was only the two of them. For a brief moment Ella thought that the photographer would have some great pictures of them smiling like idiots at each other, but the thought went as fast as it came because she was so focused on Erin and trying not to cry.

 

When they finally reached the front Erin couldn’t help herself, “Wow,” she whispered. The keeper then blushed when the first couple rows laughed; she didn’t mean to say that out loud.

 

They skipped over the ‘who gives this woman away bit’ because Erin and Ella had both agreed that it made it feel like someone was a property, or a prize to be given away by someone else and not willingly, so Ella just took Erin’s hand as they stood together.

 

They had decided to keep the ceremony fairly short just one of Ella’s favorite verses about love, 1 Corinthians 13:13; “And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of all these is Love.” Then they would go into the vows and ring exchanging, and then wrap everything up.

 

Before the wedding Erin was concerned that Ella wouldn’t like it. They were just exchanging simple gold bands and there really weren’t a lot of people that would be there. The keeper was worried that it wasn’t the fairytale wedding that her girl should have.

 

Ella however silenced those thoughts immediately by telling her that the fairytale was getting to marry her, details weren’t important. Still, Erin had a bit of a surprise for the forward.

 

After the short introductory stuff it was time for the vows. A smile came to Ella’s face when she was gestured to go first. They had a playful argument about why Erin shouldn’t go first because she would always say the sweetest most thoughtful things in their everyday life, and there was no way Ella could compete with what she would probably say for their wedding, and she didn’t want to have to follow up Erin’s speech, so she went first.

 

“Erin, I want to start off by saying thank you. Thank you for showing me real true love and giving love. I thought I knew what it was to love and be loved, but everything I thought I knew went right out the window when you came into my life. There aren’t any words to describe how you make me feel because ‘happy’ just doesn’t seem like enough, but I’m going to try. You make me feel safe and protected when things get hard or we are faced with adversity. You make me feel confident that I can take on the world with you by my side. Most importantly though, you make me feel loved every moment of everyday. I don’t know how you do it; you could just look over at me for a brief moment and I just know. It’s an indescribable feeling. Even during times that our sport pulls us apart, you still make sure I know how much you love me. You leave me notes that I find, you’ll send me pictures, and you leave me t-shirts or hats or whatever just so you can make sure that I know you are thinking about me. Soccer has taken a lot from me, things didn’t always work out the way I thought they would, but soccer has given me you, and I would go through everything the same a thousand times over if it meant you were still my end game. My father once told me that when I meet the person I’m supposed to be with I’ll know. I think somewhere deep down I knew from the moment we met, but the feelings that I had were so new and different I didn’t know what to do with them at first. You were so wonderful and patient with me though everything. Now, I’m here, getting married to you, my person, and I’m trying to find the right words to say, but all I can think of is I love you.”

 

Erin had been trying not to cry, but her eyes had definitely gotten glossy. Then she was gestured to start her vows.

 

“How am I supposed to follow that up?!” she said with a chuckle as she wiped her eyes, “You wanted to go first so you wouldn’t have to follow up what I said, but I think you got the better end of that deal for sure.”

 

Everyone in the crowd got a good laugh out of that one.

 

“Ella, I had this big long speech planned with all these words to describe you, how you make me feel, how much I love you, and how happy I’ve been these last 2 years, but nothing can compare to actually feeling those things. When you ask someone to describe happiness maybe they answer with a perfect day on the beach, or a dog they got to pet, a view from the top of the hill, or something else. When I think of happiness, when I think of love, I think of you. There are specifics of those feelings, but for the most part, it’s you; it’s just you. To me, _you_ are happiness. _You_ are love. I don’t know any other way to describe it. The best I can do to describe it is by comparing it to feelings only you and I will understand. It’s that feeling when our fingers intertwine,” Erin said as she took the forwards hand in her own. “It’s that feeling of how you fit perfectly with me, when we hug or when we are cuddled up watching a movie. It doesn’t matter who is the big spoon, we both just fit. It’s the feeling I get that every time I kiss you it’s like I’m kissing you again for the very first time back in Chicago with butterflies in my stomach. It’s the feeling I have when it’s raining and we are just cuddled on the couch with Max. It’s an indescribable feeling of pure love and happiness; it just feels stronger than those two words. I’ve loved you since the moment you first took my breath away, and I’ll love you until the last breath leaves my body.”

 

Ella, much like Erin was after her vows, had tears in her eyes.

 

“See? It was a good thing I got to go first,” the forward said with a watery laugh.

 

Once again everyone in the audience joined in on the laughter.

 

They had the traditional ring exchange ceremony, and Ella gave Erin her ring first. She responded with the ‘I do’s’ at all the appropriate times with a giant smile on her face. She then shakily put the ring on Erin’s finger; sealing her promise of loving the keeper til death do us part with a kiss to the new gold band on Erin’s left hand.

 

Erin took the ring from Cara and got ready to say her I do’s. Much like the forward she recited the response with a massive smile on her face. If she were being honest though, part of the reason she had a massive smile was because she was excited to see the response the forward would have to the ring. Once she said she would love Ella til death do us part she slipped both the gold band and a shiny silver diamond band on the forward’s finger.

 

Ella gasped, “You bastard!” she said with a smile and a playful smack to the keeper’s arm. “When did you get this!? How did you hide this?! Erin!!”

 

Erin just laughed along like everyone else was. “I’ll explain that later babe. I think we’re kind of in the middle of something here.”

 

Ella just shook her head and re-focused.

 

“Well now that we have that solved,” the woman between them said, “You may kiss your bride.”

 

Erin leaned in with one hand on Ella’s waist and the other at her cheek. “Love you.”

 

Ella hooked her arms around Erin’s neck. “Love you more.”

 

“Oh just kiss her already!” Cara yelled.

 

Erin waited for the smile to take over Ella’s face before closing the distance and kissing her wife for the first time.

 

After a moment they pulled apart and the forward broke the silence “Hey wifey.”

 

“Hi back wifey.”

 

They walked back down the isle, Max at their feet, and waited for the guest to depart to take some pictures.

 

They took pictures with Max, with Erin’s parents, with her sisters, with Ty and Grey, and then they took pictures of just the two of them.

 

One of Ella’s favorite from the day was of the two of them, Ella’s back was facing the camera, their hands were intertwined behind the forward’s back, Max was at their feet, and Erin was leaning in to kiss her.*

 

There were so many beautiful moments captured by their wonderful photographers and they couldn’t wait to go through all of them in a couple of days.

 

After one final photo of the two of them looking over their shoulders, fingers intertwined, smiling at the camera they made their way to the reception.

 

They laughed at the speech from Megan about Malcolm being concerned that they couldn’t get married because Ella was American and they cried when Tyson brought up their dad and how much he would have loved Erin.

 

It was the fairytale wedding Ella had always dreamed of, and it was the fairytale wedding that Erin secretly hoped, but never admitted out loud, she would have someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *idk if they really are kissing in that photo or not, you can't really tell, but in my head they are. You can judge for yourself. She was kind enough to share a lot of photos from the wedding and reception to her facebook fanpage. https://www.facebook.com/EllaMasar/photos/a.1060303433980770.1073741825.119060191438437/1060308047313642/?type=3&theater


	48. Chapter 48

They had agreed that they weren’t going to share much about the wedding until a few days after it happened. The only person, besides her family, that knew she got married was Emily. Ella had taken a selfie as she was getting ready and sent it to her best friend from college.

 

 _‘Sooo, we’re getting married today’_ Ella had sent.

 

 _‘WHAT?!?’_ was the response that Ella had received about 30 seconds later.

 

_‘It was super last minute, and I promise we are having another celebration in Chicago that you will definitely be at.’_

_‘You’re such a lil shit you know, but I’m so happy for you and I can’t wait for Chicago’_

_‘Thanks Em. Also we are keeping it quiet for a few days so don’t go posting anything.’_

_‘You got it. CONGRATS! I can’t wait to see pictures’_

When Ella couldn’t stand not sharing the news anymore she walked over to Erin who was making lunch with a look on her face.

 

“Yes wifey?” the keeper asked.

 

“Can we post something yet? Pleeeeeease I’m dying!”

 

Erin just laughed and gave her wife a kiss, “You were the one that wanted to wait this long. I just agreed and said that whenever you want to is cool with me. How do you want to do this?”

 

Ella got a mischievous look on her face. “I kind of have an idea.”

 

“That look you have there tells me that this might be fun. What did you have in mind?”

 

“Well,” Ella started, “Since we didn’t really tell anyone we were getting married I’m thinking that maybe we just send this picture,” Ella held out her phone to the keeper and showed her the picture of her ring, “To some of the Dash girls, I’m sure one of them will post it or something. Then once we see it posted, we can post our own stuff. Just let people kind of freak out for a little bit.”

 

Erin just laughed. Ella recently has come to love messing with their fans a bit. With how often they received messages saying that sharing the love they have for each other inspires other people that they will find love themselves it has caused them both to become even more open than they already were. That being more open, also has started to translate to just having some fun with their followers sometimes as well. Clearly Ella wanted to make this one of those times.

 

“I think that is a fun idea. Go for it babe. I already know which picture I’m going to use when we post.”

 

Ella looked up at the keeper with a smile, “Yea? You’ve been thinking about it?”

 

“Of course I have.” Erin answered. “I mean, I got to marry the most amazing, beautiful, wonderful, and loving person in the world. I can’t wait to share that.”

 

The forward leaned over for a kiss. “I know which one I’m going to use too.”

 

“I’m not surprised by that at all babe. Do you want to wait until we post to show each other or do you want to know now?”

 

“Let’s wait. Maybe we picked the some one.” Ella was going to continue that thought, but laughed at all of their teammates responses she was getting. Essentially it was just everyone collectively freaking out. Some were a bit more creative in their responses though. Ella showed the keeper some of the replies she was getting and they both had a good laugh about it. They had noticed that Mel posted a picture and they laughed at some of the replies trying to debate if it was actually Ella’s hand or not.

 

After a little bit they both took to social media to confirm what people started to freak out over.

 

Erin picked the picture of her and Ella, shortly after the ceremony, looking at each other holding their bouquet of flowers and laughing. Erin associated the picture with pure happiness. She then settled on the caption ‘The love of my life said “I do”…@emasar3 you are all my reasons-plus your initials don’t change;) win win?” before waiting for Ella to finish so they could post at the same time.

 

Ella had picked out the picture of them holding hands and looking over their shoulders at the camera. She captioned it with “To my best friend, my love, my rock…All my reasons…Cheers to our next chapter #lovelovelove”

 

They showed their pictures and captions to each other and then counted to three before hitting the post button. After posting they got settled on the couch cuddled up to each other to watch the news unfold.

 

It didn’t take long for both Ella and Erin to be overcome with emotions at all the instantaneous support they were getting. Everyone from family, to teammates both current and former, and fans were sharing their support. After going through and replying and liking comments and tweets Ella laughed out loud and showed her phone to the keeper.

 

“Your GK buddy is getting it when we get back.”

 

Erin laughed as she read Haley Carter’s tweet. _“Good thing I still have the bachelorette party supplies @emasar3 :/ Love you both…but I love @erinmcleod18 more!”_ “To be fair though Haley was really pumped about a bachelorette party.”

 

“Yea that is true I guess.”

 

They both were cuddled in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Ella turned her head and brought Erin’s lips to hers for a kiss. “I love you.”

 

“Love you too baby.”

 

 

 

A couple days had passed and they were back in Houston gearing up for the game that weekend. They were just cuddling after dinner when Lori Lindsey texted Ella like 6 times yelling at her about getting on the final WWC chat.

 

“Oh shoot! I forgot about the Chat with Yael, Lori, and Becca!” Ella said as she jumped up and got settled on the other side of the living room and hurried to get herself logged into the chat.

 

“Oh Ella! The married woman is on! Welcome.” Yael said as she joined the chat.

 

“I thought it was an hour later my time.” Ella said with a nervous laugh.

 

“It’s okay we gave you a shout out while you weren’t here. We are just discussing now what the WWC is doing to help the state of women’s soccer globally. I’m must gonna finish up one point and then you’re on the spot.” The KC midfielder replied.

 

“So,” Yael said, “One what’s it like being married, and also answer the question.”

 

Ella smiled before jumping in. “Lori thanks for the call by the way, got so excited when I saw I had a call from Lori Lindsey.”

 

“Well,” Lori said, “mainly we’re just pissed we already called you out saying we kicked you off because you got married before us, so we’re pissed cuz who would have ever thought that.”

 

They all laughed and then launched back into soccer talk. Every now and again Lori gave her some shit, mostly about her ring, but they had a great discussion overall about the impact of the World Cup and how that was translating into the NWSL and how they can use that momentum moving forward.

 

“Okay one last view of the ring” Yael said over Lori’s teasing as they were closing out their chat.

 

Ella smiled and held the ring close to the camera. “So funny story real quick. We were supposed to just give these bands,” she said pointing to her gold band, “just that first guy. And she gives me the big ring, she surprised me and she gives it to me like right when we are saying our vows. And she told me ‘I thought you were going to curse’ and I don’t cuss often, and I just go ‘you bastard.’ Because that was the only thing I could think of with her surprising me with this uh nice little rock. So yea.”

 

“So romantic Ella.” Yael laughed.

 

The forward just laughed along as well and flashed the ring once more before signing off for the night.

 

“That is on the internet forever.” Erin said once the forward closed her laptop. “The internet now knows that you called me a bastard during our wedding,” the keeper teased.

 

“Oh shut it.” Ella replied as she went back over to where Erin was sitting on the couch.

 

Once the forward was cuddled up to her she asked about something that was on her mind recently.

 

“So,” Ella started, “I kind of want to see what you think about something.”

 

“Okaaaay?”

 

“Well you know all those messages we get about how out love is like inspiring and stuff.”

 

Erin nodded and let out a chuckle, “Yea I do.”

 

“I was thinking about maybe putting some of the wedding pictures in an album on my Facebook fanpage. Not all of them, but we have some really great shots and I’m always so touched when people comment things like ‘your love gives me hope that I’ll find love like that one day too’ or ‘your relationship inspires me to be a better partner’ and especially the ones about people having the courage to come out because of either one of us, or the both of us together, and I think with so much hate that goes on in the world today that maybe it would be cool too spread a bit of love ya know? And I know it’s super personal, like super, super personal, but if we can continue to give people some hope or just something that makes them smile then I think we should and…”

 

Erin finally just cut off the forward’s rambling with a kiss.

 

After a moment the keeper pulled back. “Babe. I think that is a wonderful idea. We can choose which ones we want to share tomorrow morning and then post them okay?”

 

Ella made a delighted yipping noise that Erin laughed at before leaning over to kiss the keeper. “You’re the best wifey ever!”

 

“Anything to make my wife happy.”

 

“You’re too sweet.”

 

 

 

Just as Erin promised, the next day they picked out 46 of their favorite pictures from the days before the wedding, the ceremony, and the reception. They spent a little bit of time wondering if 46 was too many to share, or if certain ones they just wanted to keep to themselves, but after about an hour or so they decided on their final ones. Originally they had only planned to share about 25 of them, but Ella liked too many and thought they were perfect to share, and it’s not like Erin can say no to her wife when she is being all cute and excited, so they ended up with 46 pictures ready to share.

 

“Oh!” Ella exclaimed before hitting the publish button. “I want to put captions on some of these!!”

 

“Go right ahead. I’m going to start making us lunch and you can caption them and then post it when you’re done.”

 

“You don’t want to look over any of the captions before I post them? I could totally just make a bunch of embarrassing ones.”

 

Erin just laughed, “Please, you are going to get all cute and sappy, which I, and I’m sure everyone else, will just love. Plus you should see some of the embarrassing photos I have of you saved so I can totally just get you back if you do.”

 

“Love you honey!”

 

“Mhmm. Love you too babe. Now get to captioning.”

 

Once Ella was satisfied with her captions on the photos they had picked out she hit the publish button, turned off her phone, and joined her wife for lunch.

 

She wanted to just enjoy this time with Erin because she knew that sharing the photos like that would surely get some heavy attention. It is rare that a couple with some sort of media attention on them constantly would do something like that, so Ella knew it would probably be a whirlwind soon.

 

“Did you think of some good captions babe?”

 

“Mhmm. You can look at them after we eat.”

 

Erin hesitantly brought up something that had been on her mind since Ella told her she wanted to share the photos, “Um, you know that this is going to gain a lot of attention right?”

 

Ella nodded and took the keeper’s hand. “I know. And before you go on a rant, I know we are going to get some backlash for it, but I don’t care about that. I care about the people that say we give them hope that they can find love.”

 

“Well I’m glad then, but I meant more of a lot of people are probably going to be asking for interviews and stories and stuff, and we can’t refuse everyone you know? We are going to have to like officially talk about this through some media outlet.”

 

Ella nodded once more. “I know babe, and I’m perfectly fine with that as long as you are. We can find a couple of trusted journalists in the Houston area, then we can do a couple more back home in Vancouver, cover all the basis and call it good.”

 

Erin smiled, glad that the forward had already thought through all of this. “Good, okay yea that sounds like a plan.”

 

“Yea I’ve already got a few outlets in mind, we can talk about that later though, this is our day off so we are just going to chill all day before the craziness starts back up.”

 

“You are so smart wifey. I love that plan.”

 

They spent the rest of the day catching up on Netflix, hanging out in the park with Max, and just enjoying each other during the short period of downtime that they had.

 

When they had thought about the media attention they would get, they weren’t quite prepared for what would happen in the next few days.


	49. Chapter 49

Ella jaw dropped as she saw the most recent headline that was tweeted at her.

 

“What’s with the face babe?” Erin asked.

 

The forward just wordlessly handed Erin her phone that had the article pulled up.

 

“Holy shit, BuzzFeed is talking about us!?”

 

“It appears so,” Ella said.

 

“Like…. BuzzFeed…wow.”

 

“Yea.”

 

“Did you read it yet? What did they say? Do you know how many people will see this now that BuzzFeed is talking about it!? Holy crap babe.”

 

“Yea…” Ella trailed off a bit.

 

Erin noticed the forward’s change of mood and brought her over to sit on her lap. “Talk to me babe, what’s going on in your head? I didn’t think this kind of stuff would bother you.”

 

Ella shook her head and took the keeper’s hand. “It’s not that it bothers me really, I mean it would if it was like a negative article or something, but it’s just…I guess it’s a control thing.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well in the past we’ve always had a say on how much goes out there, how much we share, that has always been something we had a say in, we don’t have any say into what these people are writing about us and I just feel a bit weird about it. And I guess as of right now it’s all kind of vague news about how we have just gotten married, but what if they start trying to do like a real story that doesn’t have any facts or anything?”

 

“Okay, I get what you mean. Do you think maybe it would make you feel better if we did like a real interview or something? That way if stories do start being thrown around we have a real one that we can say ‘this is the one with the facts’ sort of thing.”

 

Ella nodded. “If you’re okay with doing it I think that it would be a good idea to do one soon. The longer we wait the more time there is for people to make things up and speculate.”

 

“Okay, we can get something worked out for maybe this weekend? Do you have any particular outlet or journalist in mind?”

 

Once again, the forward nodded, “Yea I was thinking the Chronicle. They’ve been doing some of the better coverage of the Dash, so I think that would be a nice way to go.”

 

“I totally agree with you. That sounds like a great plan. I’ll see who we need to call about setting something up tomorrow.”

 

Ella leaned over and gave her wife a kiss. “Perfect, love you.”

 

“Love you too.”

 

 

 

Ella watched her wife close her eyes and do her normal game day visualizations. This would be their first game as a married couple, and while they told the Dash organization that they wanted to keep it strictly about soccer, they imagined there would definitely be some outside attention on this particular game. They were the only married couple in the NWSL that played for the same team, so that was bound to get some attention.

 

Once Erin opened her eyes back up, they immediately sought out Ella and she gave her wife a smile as she walked over to sit next to her.

 

“You ready for this wifey?” Erin asked

 

Ella responded by giving the keeper a kiss, “Ready for anything as long as you’re with me.”

 

“Oh my god.” Bianca groaned from across the room. “Will you two ever not be the sappiest people ever!?”

 

Ella just smiled and gave her keeper a kiss, “Probably not.”

 

“I need a girlfriend.” Bianca sighed as she walked out for warm ups.

 

Everyone remaining in the locker room just laughed before following Bianca out to get warm ups started.

 

“Let’s go kick some butt wifey.” Ella said she pulled the keeper up off the bench to follow everyone else out onto the field.

 

The game had gone well and afterwards they had gone around the stadium like normal for autographs and pictures. They received a lot of congratulations as they were doing it all and it made them smile each time. They really felt like they had the best fans in the world.

 

Once they were back in the locker room Erin walked over to give her wife a kiss. “Good game baby.”

 

“Thanks, you too. You had some killer saves out there, definitely saved our butts a few times.”

 

“Same to you though, some of those tackles you made, you would think you’ve been a defender your entire life. I’m so proud of your progress babe.”

 

“I mean, with how much you yell directions at me, I would hope I’ve gotten the hang of it by now.”

 

“Let’s get home wifey, we’ve got some serious post-game cuddling to do.”

 

Ella smiled and gave Erin a quick kiss before replying, “Sounds like a plan,” and getting changed and her stuff together before heading out.

 

 

Once back at home they got some snacks and settled against each other on the couch.

 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a little bit before Ella spoke up, “So, that feature that Brittany did is coming out this weekend.”

 

Erin nodded, “Yea, you excited?”

 

Ella smiled and nodded, “Yea I am.”

 

Erin could tell something was off, “But…?”

 

“Umm,” Ella stuttered before taking the keeper’s hand in her own, “I’m just not sure what the final cut is going to be. I told Brittany she could have range over whatever she wanted. I didn’t say anything that I wanted to cut out, but we were there for so long so I just told her to cut what she needs to so that it flows well.”

 

“Okay,” Erin said, “I’m still not really following though.”

 

“Well, obviously you came up, but also that kind of means that my ex came up. I talked about um, what happened when we first started getting serious, and I just don’t know how well that will be received ya know? I think I should have told her to cut that part out.”

 

“Baby, don’t worry about it. I think it was important to both you as an individual and to us as a couple.”

 

“I know, but I don’t really want him in a bad light. He is a good person ya know?”

 

“I know babe, but I think that the adversity that he brought our relationship, and the talks that we had to have after it were very important, and a lot of other same-sex couples probably go though something similar and it could really help them.”

 

~~~~

Chicago, September, 2013

_“Hey Erin, can I um, can I talk to you?”_

_The keeper hesitantly took Ella’s hand, they had only been together for a couple of months, so she knew that Ella was still getting comfortable with even something as simple as holding hands, “You can talk to me about anything.”_

_“My uh, my ex wants to see me before I head out of town. He really asked if I wanted to come over for dinner, like with his whole family, they were like a second family to me when…um…when things got bad at home, but I uh, I don’t think that I can go and not talk about you, or tell him that I’m taken because then I would tell him I dating you and I don’t think that will go well at all and I don’t know what to do.”_

_Ella had started to get a bit emotional about the situation, so Erin pulled her closer and was rubbing soothing circles on her back. “I can’t tell you what to baby, but I can tell you that I will be behind you 100% with whatever you want to do. If you just want to meet up with him that’s fine, if you want me to come with you I will, if you do want to go back for dinner with his whole family then do that, or if you want me to come to that too I will. You can also just not tell them, I’d be okay with that if you aren’t comfortable with telling them. I’m not going to lie; I have this gut feeling that David and his family won’t take it well and I don’t you to get hurt, but I know what his family means to you.”_

_Ella leaned up and gave the keeper a quick kiss which caused Erin to smile, Ella didn’t initiate affection like that often so early in the relationship, so anytime she did, the keeper knew it was a special moment. “Thank you. I think…I think I want to go, but I don’t know what I’ll do if or um when they don’t react well. I…I…um, I don’t think I want you to go.”_

_Erin was a bit hurt that the forward didn’t want her to go, but she knew where the forward was coming from and she understood. “That’s okay baby. I want you to do whatever you are comfortable with. I’ll be right here waiting when you get home okay?”_

_Ella nodded, “Thank you for understanding.”_

_“Anything for you love.”_

_The next night Ella got ready for dinner with David’s family and was nervous about it. Erin, ever the best support system, calmed her down and talked her through how to handle a not-so-ideal reaction. Ella left a bit more confident and hoped that everything went well._

_Erin on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, sure she held it together enough for Ella, but once the forward was gone her nerves came back. This would be the first controversial situation Ella would be in, a situation where someone could potentially tear down their relationship. True to her word though she stayed up and waited for Ella to return._

_2 hours later, when Ella did return, Erin immediately noticed her smudged eye make up and walked over to wrap her in a hug. “Baby, what happened” the keeper gently asked._

_Ella just shook her head and held on tighter to the keeper._

_Erin gently moved the forward over to the couch and held onto her as Ella gathered her thoughts._

_“Whenever you’re ready baby, just take your time. I’ll be here.”_

_It took about 15minutes for Ella to gather her thoughts and start to speak. “You were right, it didn’t go well. I…I stood up for myself, for us though.”_

_“Baby I am so proud of you for standing up, that takes an immense amount of courage. I am so proud.”_

_“It actually didn’t go as bad as I thought, but it still wasn’t good. They, uh, said that they’d pray for me, for uh, for me to find the light. I told them thank you, but I had found the light, you were my light.”_

_Erin was speechless. It was admirable that Ella stood up, but to do it in that way was just a whole different level._

_“Can I tell you something?” Erin asked._

_“Yea…um…yea of course.”_

_“I…uh…last night…I was waiting for you to come home and break up with me.”_

_“What? Why!”_

_“I just…I thought with your faith…you would realize this isn’t what you wanted.” The keeper said with her head down._

_Ella turned and used her hand to turn Erin’s face towards her. “You are all that I want.”_

_“Yea?”_

_Ella nodded and closed the small gap between them for a kiss. “Absolutely.”_

~~~~

 

“You’re right. That was an important part of our history, and it probably will help some people. You’re so smart.”

 

Erin smiled and gave the forward a quick kiss, “Well you definitely got the beautiful, the funny, the athleticism, and the beautiful, so I have to have something,” the keeper teased.

 

“You’re such a dork.”

 

“Yea but I’m your dork,” Erin said, then after a moment of thought she flashed her ring at the forward, “FOREVER!”

 

Ella just laughed and kissed her wife. “I love you.”

 

“Love you more.”

 

“You sure about that? We’ll see if you’re still staying that when my mom comes next week and takes over our apartment for a few days.”

 

Erin kissed her girl once more, “I can’t wait.”


	50. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this might be the last update for a little bit. I have finals next week so I probably won't have any time to really focus on this. During study breaks I might do a couple of one-shots or ficlet meme things, but don't expect an update on this one fore a couple of weeks. <3

Ella was bouncing up and down at the airport waiting for her mom to come out of the arrivals gate. The forward was a little nervous about her mother coming, and the fact that she was staying with them, but the nerves were overthrown by her excitement for everything. 

“Babe, she will be out in a minute, you are getting a little to antsy, and people are starting to stare.”

“Oops! Sorry, I’m just excited! This is moms first time here and I just want her to see why I love it here. Aside from you being here of course, that is a big plus. I’m pretty sure I would love any city as long as you were there with me, but you know what I mean.”

Erin laughed and gave Ella a kiss on the cheek. “I do know what you mean, I feel the same, now go give your mom a hug,” the keeper finished when she saw Ella’s mom appear out of the crowd of people in the airport. 

Ella practically sprinted away from her wife and ran right over to her mom “I missed you so much! I’m so happy you could come down for a little bit!”

“I missed you too sweetie. Now let’s get back over to that wife of yours.”

Ella’s mom wasted no time wrapping Erin up in a hug. After a moment, the keeper thought she was pulling away, but instead she just brought Ella into the hug too and said, “Congratulations you two. I wish I could have been there, and I’m so glad you are doing another one in Illinois after the season ends, otherwise I would be ticked off for not being able to see you get married.”

Erin took Ella’s mom’s bag while the forward looped her arm through her mothers and spoke up. “I know mom, it was so last minute though, actually getting it all together in just about ten days. We knew it was short notice so right from the start we planned on having another one in Illinois so that everyone could be there.” 

“Good. I can’t wait then.”

Erin put her mother-in-law’s bag in the car and then smiled as Ella climbed in the backseat with her. It was rare that the forward let Erin drive, but she figure this was a bit of a special occasion, so she just sent a smile to Ella in the rearview mirror and listened to Ella and her mom catch up. 

Once back at the apartment they showed her around (it didn’t take too long, the apartments were not that big) and after a little bit of arguing they convinced her that it was fine that she took the bed, Ella was sharing it with her anyway, it’s not like two people could sleep on the couch, and then Erin set to work on making dinner while Ella and her mom sat on the bar stools and continued to talk. They made sure to keep Erin in the conversation as well, her mother often asking how her family was doing, plans for the offseason, and a little bit about the world cup as well. 

It was a fairly uneventful night, but that was to be expected with the travel. They had a morning practice tomorrow, and then they planned on taking Ella’s mom around the art scene of Houston later. Then they had a light afternoon practice the next day before their game, and then Ella’s mom would be leaving the next afternoon. It wasn’t a long trip, but Erin could tell that it meant a lot to Ella to have her mom there with them for a few days.

 

On the way to practice the next morning Ella spoke up, “Are you really okay on the couch? I know it’s not the most comfortable to sleep on.”

“Babe, I’m fine, I promise. It’s only for a couple nights anyway and it’s not like it’s super uncomfortable.” 

“Are you sure?”

Erin rolled her eyes and reached across to take Ella’s hand, “Yea, I’m sure. I mean this morning I missed waking up all cuddled up to you, but I can manage for a couple days.”

Ella took her eyes off the road for a moment so she could smile at her wife. 

“Oh! It’s your favorite song!” Erin exclaimed as she turned up the radio to blast Sam Smith’s Stay with Me.

Ella just let out a groan, “You’re never going to let this die are you?”

Erin leaned over and kissed her cheek before saying, “Nope, never” and proceeding to sing at the top of her lungs. 

When they got to the training field Erin was still teasing Ella and the keeper was trying to avoid her wife swatting at her. 

“Well aren’t you two in a good mood this morning.” Kealia teased. “I would have thought Erin would be a nervous wreck these next couple of days with your mom here.”

Erin just shrugged, “Momma Masar loves me, no need to be nervous.”

Kealia just raised her eyebrow as Ella walked away to talk to Randy.

“What’s with the look K?”

“I’m just saying, you went married her daughter shotgun style, she wasn’t even there, are there really no hard feelings about that?”

“We talked about it last night a little bit. I’m pretty sure there isn’t because we explained why we were doing another one in Illinois after the season wrapped up. She seemed totally cool with it. Ella’s mom isn’t just your average mom K, you’ll see that tomorrow at the game I bet. I mean, you saw her Purpose 2 Play feature, so you know a bit of the history with her mom, but she is so cool and eccentric. I thought she was either going to rip my head off for marrying Ella without her there or she would be thrilled and totally get why we did it so quickly. Thankfully it was the latter one.”

Erin felt her wife’s arms wrap around her waist from behind, “What are you thankful for?”

Erin turned her head to give Ella a kiss, “That your mom didn’t kill me for marrying you without her there.”

“She is totally thrilled for us. I think it’s helpful though that we are having another one in Illinois though, if we weren’t, then she might have killed you wifey.”

Kealia clutched at her chest dramatically and fell on the ground, “Ugh, you’re so married. Too cute. I can’t. Go on without me!”

The couple just laughed at the young forward and held out their hands to help her up when Randy called for practice to get going. 

 

Once practice was finished up for the day, they made their way back to the apartment and smiled when they walked in and saw that Ella’s mom had made them lunch. 

“I don’t really know you’re routine, but I figured you girls would be hungry when you got back.”

Erin gave her mother-in-law a kiss on the cheek as she took the plate that was held out for her, “Thank you.”

Ella gave her mom a hug, “Thanks mom, we really appreciate it.” 

“Do you all have a timeline for when we will head downtown? I figured you would want to shower and all that before we go, and I saw this cute little row of shops a couple blocks down that I thought I would go look at. Do you two shower together?”

“MOM!” Ella exclaimed with her face turning red.

“What? I know what it’s like to be a newlywed.”

“Oh my god I can’t believe this is a conversation we are having.” Ella mumbled while Erin was shaking with silent laughter beside her.

“Oh don’t be so embarrassed honey. It’s not like I don’t think you two aren’t have sex.”

“How about we change the subject back to those little shops you saw instead of this.” Ella said, desperately trying to change the subject. 

“Well I asked because if you’re going to shower together it won’t be as long as if you shower separately…or maybe it would be longer depending on if you two…”

“WE ARE GOING TO SHOWER SEPERATELY” Ella said interrupting the end of that sentence to try and not have her face permanently a dark shade of red.

“Alright sweetie, I was just wondering. So about an hour or so?”

“Yea probably.” Ella mumbled, still red in the face. 

“Okay, you girls finish up lunch and then you can just call me when you need me to start heading back over this way.”

“Okay mom.”

“Thanks again for lunch!” Erin called as the forward’s mom made her way out the door. 

Ella let out a breath, “I can’t believe that actually happened. Oh my god.”

Erin knew she was probably going to get hell for what she was about to say, but she couldn’t resist, “I mean, she’s just making sure you’re gettin’ some.”

“ERIN! You’re lucky you’re already on the couch.”

“Looooooove you wifey!” the keeper said as she leaned over and puckered her lips dramatically.

Ella rolled her eyes and gave the keeper a kiss. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yea, but you loooove me.”

“I do. Now, come on shower time.” Ella said as she got up and headed to the bathroom.

Erin smiled, “Shower time or shower time,” she said wiggling her eyebrows with the last one.

Ella was already in the bathroom with her shirt lying on the floor, but she caught the tone in Erin’s voice and stuck her head around the corner. “Why don’t you come in here and find out.”

 

Once they were showered, actually showered, Ella called her mom and then when she got back they headed downtown. The art scene was something that they absolutely loved about Houston. Erin drew a lot of inspiration for some smaller pieces that would probably not be sold, or shown to the world, from places that her and Ella had been. With Ella’s mom also being an artist they knew that she would probably love it just as much as they did. 

Ella smiled to herself when she saw her mom and Erin in a really deep conversation about art. The forward knew that she wouldn’t have a clues as to what they were talking about, so she chose instead to just take a picture of them, heads bent together, talking animatedly. 

“Babe, let me take your pictures over by those statues.”

Ella smiled as her and her mom jumped up and mimicked the poses that the statues had.

“Perfect. That’s a great one!”

Ella smiled and took the phone back. “It is. I’m going to post that one later.”

They took plenty more pictures, Erin got a really good candid one of Ella in a cool display of lights that she knew was too good to pass up posting, but she was going to wait a little while. 

Ella’s mom loved the scene downtown and they stayed there to eat as well, so she got to see a little bit of the night-life that goes on as well. During dinner once again Ella zoned out when here mom and Erin started talking art. It wasn’t that she didn’t like art, she loved it, but unless Erin told her the story behind a piece, she really wasn’t in tune enough with her artistic side to properly appreciate it sometimes, at least not to the degree that Erin and her mom did. 

Once they got back home later in the night then they had planned, it was a bit uneventful, they changed into comfy clothes and just relaxed and talked for a little while until Ella couldn’t hold back yawning a couple times. 

“Why don’t we head to bed? You two have a game tomorrow, that you need to win since I’m there, and need your rest. Erin, do you want to do yoga with me in the morning? Ella doesn’t quite enjoy it.”

“Sure, I usually do some meditative stuff in the morning on game days anyway.”

“Great!”

When Ella’s mom got up to use the restroom and get ready for bed Ella shot Erin a look. “You better prepare yourself. There is a reason I don’t do yoga with her.”

“I’ll be fine babe.”

“You say that now.” Ella mumbled as her mother came back out.

“Goodnight girls!”

“Night.” They both echoed. 

After a couple little kisses Ella got up and got in bed as well after she jokingly tucked Erin in on the couch. “Love you wifey.”

“Love you too. Sleep well.”

Ella smiled, “I know it’s hard without me to cuddle, but sweet dreams.”

With one last kiss Ella got up from the couch to go to bed. 

Erin was left thinking that yoga in the morning couldn’t be that bad…..right?


	51. Chapter 51

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't really the greatest, I know, but I just haven't been super motivated to write this lately. I wanted to get something out to you all though because school starts back up next week and I've got a bit of a heavy semester, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write. 
> 
> I love you guys, thanks for sticking with me for this long. <3

Wrong. Very wrong. Erin definitely knew why Ella didn’t do yoga with her mom now. She had plenty of time to think about it while she was upside down balancing on her head. Ella of course was getting a kick out of it and since she had the team snapchat account for the day so she was documenting quite a bit.

 

When they left to meet up with the team for their pre-game walk Ella smiled over at the keeper, “Soooooo, how was yoga?”

 

“I could have done without the headstands, but it was a real bonding moment for your mom and I.”

 

“So you probably won’t be doing yoga with my mom anymore?”

 

Erin sheepishly nodded, “I can see why you chose to opt out of it now. Your mom knows her stuff though, I’ll give her that.”

 

“Yea she is really passionate about it. She is always reading up trying to learn new things, or what can be more beneficial for certain people.”

 

When they pulled up to the little park they were meeting the team at, Niki was the first to run over and greet them. “Hey wifey’s. You ready for today’s disaster to hit the internet?”

 

Erin started laughing hysterically and Ella just let out a groan. 

 

“I still can’t believe you actually wrote down that ingrown hair thing! Everyone is going to know that weird habit of Ella’s now.” Niki said. 

 

“Yea,” Ella deadpanned while looking at Erin, “Thanks for that.”

 

“I was just being honest!” Erin defended. “You always over-share online anyway so I thought that was the theme we would be going with! At least I picked that one and not your weird need to pop any pimple I have. That one is really weird.”

 

“Ugh, you’re the worst.”

 

Erin just laughed and kissed Ella’s cheek. “I looooove you.”

 

“Yea, yea yea.”

 

Ella took a couple of snapchats during their walk and despite all the teasing, they were all very normal pictures. 

 

“Booooo” Kealia shouted, “Give the people what they want! They don’t want us, they want to see the wifey’s!”

 

“Oh shush,” Bianca said, “They get enough of those two making everyone feel bad about their love lives with how much they gush about each other on their own social media accounts, they don’t need to be doing it on the team one too!”

 

Everyone just laughed and jokingly shoved around Ella and Erin until they were in the back of the group laughing. 

 

“I love our team. I’ve always thought that I wouldn't want to play anywhere other than Chicago, but Houston has been so good to us these last two years.” Ella said.

 

“I feel the same, about Houston being good to us at least. Really the only thing I loved about Chicago was meeting you. That’s where it all started. It really could have been any city, and I would have fallen in love with it I think, as long as I got to experience it with you.”

 

“OH MY GOD SHUT UP YOU’RE MAKING US SINGLE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE SHIT ABOUT OUR LACK OF RELATIONSHIPS!” Bianca yelled. 

 

Once again the entire team just laughed. 

 

Ella wrapped her arms around her keeper, “We didn’t get to go on a honeymoon, leave us alone to be sappy and lovey.”

 

“Yea what the wifey said!” 

 

Rachel and Ellie walked back over to them arm in arm. “Well according to the game we are the best wifeys,” Rachel said.

 

“Yea,” Ellie jumped in, “Didn’t even know she liked cream in her coffee, tsk tsk Ella.” 

 

“Oh shush you two. You just got lucky with the questions that were asked.” Ella replied. 

 

Ellie and Rachel just walked off laughing.

 

“That episode really is going to be a disaster,” Erin said. “Between the shit show that was answering those questions, then you little accent bit, it’s a mess. I wonder if it’s gone up yet.”

 

“Who knows, I’m just waiting to see if my mom will watch it. I know she watches some of them, I think really she watches them when she remembers we do them, but I know she will get a kick out of this one probably. Especially the ingrown hair thing, I’ve been doing that since I was like 13.”

 

“Maybe after the game tonight we can watch it with her then. I’m sure she’d get a kick out of it.”

 

“Sounds like a good idea babe.”

  
  


The game came and went and Ella’s mom had a blast at the game. Back in the locker room Ella took to snapchat again to ask her about it.

 

“So Ma, what did you think?”

 

“Oh I had a wonderful time! I sat next to super-fan Michael, he knew everything.”

 

Ella laughed as the 10 second snapchat ended. “Yea, he knew everything?”

 

“He did! He was spouting off stats all night, talking about your defensive shape, set pieces, and he even had a jersey with like 3 people’s names combined on it. I think it was the US National team players. He said he had another one with all of the Canadian players too. Oh speaking of that though, will you be getting a Canadian citizenship? I think I overheard someone saying that you could do that and then potentially play for Canada, something about 1 cap and a FIFA waiver or something.”

 

Ella’s jaw dropped, “Um, maybe. I haven’t actually thought about that too much. The soccer part of it at least. I am going to go for citizenship though. We’re kind of starting the process as soon as the season is over in hopes that we can get it done by the new year.”

 

“Wow. That is amazing sweetie!”

 

“Thanks mom. Erin and I were talking today about how Chicago was kind of home to me, but there is now just this pull to Canada and I honestly don’t see myself living anywhere else in the off season, even though that kind of scares me.”

 

“No need to be scared honey, that just means you’re grown up,” she finished a little teary-eyed.

 

“Aww mom don’t do that! You know if you start crying I’ll start crying and then Erin will walk out and be so confused!”

 

It was too late though, both women were crying and of course Erin walked out with a ‘what they hell did I miss’ look on her face. “I was gone 5 minutes! What in the world happened?”

 

“Nothin’” Ella sniffled, “You know how I get sometimes.”

 

Erin smiled and wrapped her arms around Ella before giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I know, what got you all emotional this time?”

 

“We can talk about it later. Let’s get home, it’s mom’s last night here and I kind of just to hang out and chill before she has to go.”

 

“Okay babe, sounds good. Are you all ready to go? I’ve got a couple things I need to finish up really quick.”

 

“Yea, I’m ready.”

 

“Okay,” Erin said as she gave her a quick kiss, “I’ll be out in a minute then.”

 

Ella and her mom just talked to pass the time as Erin finished getting all ready to go. After the slightly sentimental talk with her mom, she wanted to just watch movies and chill out because she wasn’t totally sure how many more nights like that she would get to have just whenever she wanted to. Onec they moved to Canada, she wouldn’t get the chance to just hang out with her mom whenever she wanted. 

 

“You ready to go babe?” Erin said as she came out of the locker room.

 

Ella nodded and took the keeper’s hand as they walked back to their car.

  
  


Later that night, after Ella’s mom had gone to bed, Erin and Ella were still sitting on the couch talking quietly. 

 

“So what was with the crying earlier?”

 

“Just mom and I talking about me like officially being a grown up, her being all sentimental, and I told her about how I was going to apply for Canadian citizenship. Just a good ‘feelings’ talk really. And you know how I get emotional when other people get emotional, so that just happened.”

 

“Oh good, I thought it might have been something bad. I was worried for a minute.”

 

Ella just cuddled into the keeper and took her hand, “Nope just some sentimental talk. Speaking of sentimental. I can’t wait until your ring gets here.”

 

“I told you that you didn’t have to get me another one.”

 

Ella just brought Erin’s ring finger up to kiss the plain gold band. “I know, but I seem to recall me telling you not to give me one either.”

 

Erin just gave a cheeky smile. “Now you have a cool story to tell our kids.” Erin cleared her throat and put on a ‘storytelling voice’, “‘And that kids is the story of your mommy calling me a bastard at our wedding.”

 

“Oh shut up!” Ella said laughing hysterically and swatting at the keeper, “You’re so dumb, I am not telling our kids that I called you a bastard at our wedding, at least until they are older,” she finished with a yawn.

 

“Why don’t you head to bed, we’ve got to get up a bit earlier than we would on recovery days to take your mom back to the airport.”

 

Ella nodded and wrapped her arms around Erin, burying her face in the crook of her neck, “I love you.”

 

“I love you too. Goodnight baby.”

 

Ella leaned up and gave her wife a kiss. “Last night on the couch, then you’re all mine again.”

  
“Can’t wait babe. Goodnight.”


	52. Chapter 52

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's really short, but I finally found some mojo again and wanted to get this short little update out before finals next week. After that I'll have about a month break from school so I'll be writing and updated more.

Ella sighed as she got home from practice and noticed that the lights in their apartment were still off, meaning Erin was still in bed. The team did have an earlier practice, but Erin was generally a morning person so Ella hoped that the keeper would be up by now. They had just gotten the clear from their insurance that Erin would be getting the surgery for her ACL in Sweden in just a few days. Ella had tried her best to keep Erin’s spirits high, the surgeon was one of the best, but with it being the keeper’s third ACL recovery was definitely going to be a tough road. 

 

“Erin, babe, do you want to go down to that cafe on the corner for lunch in a little while?” Ella gently asked hoping that getting the keeper up and outside might cheer her up a bit. 

 

“Hmm sure.” Erin sleepily responded. 

 

Ella knew that she should probably get Erin up, but since she agreed to go out in a few hours Ella let her stay in bed as a compromise. 

 

Ella went about her post-practice routine as normal and did a little bit of meal prepping for the week as well before it was lunch time. 

 

Erin did get up while Ella was prepping and moved to the kitchen table to watch and at least be in the same room. 

 

“Why are you meal prepping when we are about to go out?”

 

“Because I won’t have a lot of time to do it later this week.”

 

“Well, you know I’ll be pretty much on house arrest after the surgery so maybe I could do that stuff for you.”

 

Ella really wanted to say no, that Erin should be resting and that moving around the kitchen would probably strain her or tire her out, but it would also help Erin to be focused on something other than her knee so Ella swallowed her worry. “Okay that sounds like a good idea. We can set you up with a chair for your leg and a chair at the counter so that you can still sit while you do it though if you get tired.” 

 

Erin smiled, she figured she would have gotten a lot more push back from Ella on the subject. She knew her wife was a worrier so for Ella to tell her it was okay to do that meant that she was working on her own worries to make Erin feel more helpful. 

 

“Thank you,” the keeper said. 

 

“Maybe we can bring some of your art stuff in here too. The landlord did say we could paint the walls. If you felt up to it maybe you could do something in here to bring a little more color into the room.” 

 

“Yea that sounds like a good idea. I mean I’ll be pretty immobile for the first week, but I’ll be able to do some little things here and there with crutches or if I’m sitting after that first week.”

 

Ella smiled and walked over to give Erin a kiss. “Perfect. Now, are you almost ready to go? Once I finish this we can head out for lunch.”

 

“Yea I just need to change out of my sweats and I’m good to go.” 

 

They made the short walk down to the cafe and Ella suggested Erin find a table outside while she went in and ordered their food. 

 

“Thank you” Erin said when she came back out with the food.

 

Ella picked up in her tone that it was a thank you for more than just the food, but she figured Erin would bring it up with her when she was ready. “You’re welcome.”

 

“Really, thank you for letting me kind of be mad and sad about everything these last few days. And for the talk in the kitchen this morning. I know that you are worried about me and would rather I not do that kind of stuff, but it really is helpful for me to know that I can still be useful even if I can’t be walking for a while.”

 

“Honestly I was getting a little worried about your mood, even though it was completely understandable for the circumstances, you’ve just always bounced back a little better and looked at the positives. I was going to give it two more days before I made you have a real talk with me. And as much as I do worry about you doing some stuff, I know that you need to do it as well. I know you and I know that you can’t sit around and not do stuff. That’s why I thought of the art project in the kitchen too.”

 

Erin smiled, her wife was so in tune with her it sometimes freaked her out a little bit. “You really are the greatest.” 

 

Ella smiled and flipper her hair over he shoulder, “Yea I know,” she responded sassily.

  
Erin just laughed and took a bit of her sandwich; her wife was something else. 


End file.
